LAWRENCE  J.  GUTTER 

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THE    UNIVERSITY   OF   ILLINOIS 
AT  CHICAGO 


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l\eception  and   Dinner 


TEKDBBED    TO 


J)rof.  J)ayid  gwina 


MEMBERS  OF  THE   CENTRAL  CHURCH  AND  CONGRE- 
GATION, AND  OTHER  PERSONAL  FRIENDS, 


PALMER    HOUSE, 


CHICAGO, 


Monday  Evening,  February  22,    1886. 


CHICAQO: 

Rand,  MoNally  &  Company,  Printers, 

148-154  Monroe  Street. 

1886. 


Deception  and  Pinner 


PROF.  DAVID  SWING. 


It  appeared  to  numerous  friends  of  Prof.  Swing  that  some 
notice  should  be  taken  of  the  fact  that  he  has  resided  and  labored 
in  the  City  of  Chicago  for  twenty  years.  It  was  the  opinion  of 
his  friends  that  these  two  decades  marked  an  epoch  in  the  morals, 
religion  and  literature  of  our  city;  and  also  that  he  had  been  foremost 
in  creating  such  epoch.  Hence  they  took  advice  among  themselves 
as  to  the  form  of  such  testimonial,  the  result  of  which  will  appear 
from  the  following  : 

CIRCULAR. 

Chicago,  Feb.  2,  1886. 
Dear  Sir: 

Many  friends  of  Prof.  Swing  consider  some  appropriate  notice 
should  be  taken  of  the  twentieth  anniversary  of  his  labors  in 
Chicago. 

In  order  that  the  fitting  thing  may  be  done,  we  urgently  request 
you  to  meet  us  and  others  of  his  friends  in  consultation  at  the  Club 
Room  in  the  Palmer  House,  on  Thursday,  Feb.  4,  at  4  o'clock,  p.  m. 

We  think  that  his  life  and  labors  in  Chicago  mark  an  epoch  in 
the  history  of  our  city,  and  are  anxious  to  devise  a  proper  method  of 
showing  him  that  the  same  are  appreciated  by  his  people  and  the 


RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 


entire  community.     Do  not  fail  to  impress  on  your  mind  the  time 

and  place  of  the  meeting. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Charles  Fitzsimons. 
D.  S.  Mead. 
A.  M.  Pence. 
A.  L.  Chetlain. 
W.  S.  Henderson. 
C.  B.  Holmes. 

In  response  to  the  foregoing,  very  many  friends  of  Prof.  Swing 
met  at  the  Palmer  House,  and  discussed  a  variety  of  plans  for 
celebrating  the  event,  and  appointed  an  Executive  Committee,  com- 
posed of  C.  B.  Holmes,  Chairman;  Gen.  A.  L.  Chetlain,  A.  M.  Pence, 
D.  S.  Mead,  John  G.  Shortall,  W.  S.  Henderson,  and  Gen.  Chas. 
Fitzsimons,  Secretary,  with  power  to  determine  the  kind  of  cele- 
bration, and  make  full  arrangements  therefor. 

The  Executive  Committee  met  on  the  5th  of  February,  and  decided 
to  tender  to  Prof.  Swing  a  reception  and  dinner,  on  the  evening  of 
the  2  2d  of  February,  at  the  Palmer  House,  and  appointed  the 
following  committees: 

ON   RECEPTION. 


N.  K.  Fairbank. 
Gen.  A.  L.  Chetlain. 
O.  F.  Fuller. 
L.  L.  Coburn. 
Dr.  R.  N.  Isham. 
Potter  Palmer. 
Dr.  H.  A.  Johnson. 
Ferd.  W.  Peck. 
J.  B.  Rayner. 
J.  N.  Jewett. 


W.  S.  Henderson. 
J.  H.  McVicker. 
John  C.  Black. 
A.  A.  Carpenter. 
E.  M.  Phelps. 
E.  R.  Wadsworth. 
George  Howland. 
O.  W.  Potter. 
H.  C.  Hayt. 
C.  Clemons. 


Wirt  Dexter. 
Eugene  Cary. 
Joseph  Medill. 
W.  W.  Kimball. 
Gov.  Wm.  Bross. 
Lyman  J.  Gage. 
George  L.  Dunlap. 
Moses  Wentworth. 
D.  S.  Mead., 
H.  L.  Norton. 


TO   PROF.    DAVID   SWING. 


N.  K.  Fairbank. 


ON   INVITATIONS. 

W.  S.  Henderson. 
Gen.  Chas.  Fitzsimons. 


C.  B.  Holmes. 


ON  SPEECHES. 

A.  M.  Pence.  E.  M.  Phelps.  John  G.  Shortall. 

Gen.  A.  C.  McClurg. 


ON  DINNER. 
Samuel  M.  Jones. 


E.  B.  Sherman. 

Gen.  Chas.  Fitzsimons. 


W.  W.  Kimball 
C.  B.  Holmes. 


ON  MUSIC. 
John  G.  Shortall.  N.  K.  Fairbank. 


ON  FLOWERS. 

Mrs.  W.  S.  Henderson.  Mrs.  Wirt  Dexter. 

Mrs.  W.  W.  Kimball. 


RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 


THE   RECEPTION 


In  response  to  invitations,  the  parlors  of  the  hotel  were  filled 
at  an  early  hour  with  an  assemblage  of  prominent  citizens, 
members  and  pastors  of  various  city  churches.  At  seven  o'clock 
Prof.  Swing,  accompanied  by  his  daughter,  Miss  Helen,  was  pre- 
sented by  N.  K.  Fairbank,  Esq.,  and  Gen.  A.  L.  Chetlain,  to  the 
many  friends  who  had  gathered  to  express  friendship  and  admi- 
ration for  one  who,  through  many  years  of  Christian  labor,  has 
drawn  about  him  the  true  and  noble  of  the  city. 

After  an  hour  spent  in  the  exchange  of  congratulations  and 
friendly  greeting,  and  when  all  had  participated  in  a  rich  social 
feast,  the  company,  led  by  the  honored  guest,  retired  to  the 
"  Banquet  Hall,"  where  sweet  music,  fragrant  flowers  and  delicate 
viands  added  their  charm  to  the  beauty  and  brilliancy  of  the 
occasion. 


THE   DINNER. 


ZMI  IE  IsT  TJ 


Blue  Points. 

Consomme  Macedoine. 

Sliced  Cucumbers.  Kennebec  Salmon.  French  Peas. 

Fillet  of  Beef  ;  with  Truffles. 
Browned  Sweet  Potatoes. 

Roman  Punch. 

Lettuce  Salad.  Jack    Snipe.  Curled  Potatoes. 

Nesselrode  Ice  Cream;  with  Sauce  Maraschino. 

Assorted  Cake.  Confectionery. 

Fruit.  Coffee. 


TO  PROF.    DAVID   SWING. 


THE   SPEECHES 


INTRODUCTORY. 


ABRAM    M.    PENCE,    ESQ. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  I  have  been  called  upon  to  occupy  the 
chair  to-night,  not  because  of  any  personal  fitness  in  myself  for  the 
position,  but  for  the  reason  that  I  am  the  oldest  friend  and  immediate 
follower  of  Prof.  Swing  in  our  great  city. 

Thirty  years  ago  I  met  him  among  the  hills  of  Southern  Ohio, 
which  form  in  such  a  charming  manner  the  perspective  and  setting 
of  that  beautiful  picture  called  "  La  Belle  Riviere."  He  was  then 
a  young  man  of  twenty-five  years,  and  I  a  boy. 

He  then  and  there  became  my  teacher  and  friend;  and,  whilst  his 
labors  in  the  capacity  of  teacher  may  have  had  but  little  direct 
influence  upon  your  Chairman,  he  was  nevertheless  laying  wide  the 
foundation  upon  which  a  magnificent  career  has  since  been  erected. 

I  heard  his  first  efforts  as  a  preacher,  and  I  am  pleased  to  inform 
you  that  he  stepped  forth  a  literary  athlete  from  the  beginning. 
He  had  no  boyhood  in  the  use  of  his  pen.  His  literature  was 
always  orthodox,  and,  as  to  his  religious  views,  he  was  then  as  care- 
less of  all  schools  of  theology  as  he  is  to-day. 

You  must  excuse  my  seeming  egotism,  for  I  do  not  praise  myself 
for  my  good  fortune;  but,  after  ten  years  of  friendship,  having  cast 
myself  into  this  great  whirlpool  of  life,  I  had  the  opportunity  of 
performing  the  most  useful  act  of  my  existence,  when  I  assisted  in 
placing  the  footsteps  of  Prof.  Swing  upon  the  threshold  of  this  new 
world.  He  entered  the  gates  of  our  city.  He  came,  he  saw,  he 
conquered,  and  for  twenty  years  his  life  and  his  thought  have  been 
an  inspiration,  a  solace  and  a  pleasure  to  all  the  great  Northwest. 


8  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

When  the  young  Aristides  said  that  he  gained  strength  by  being 
in  the  room  with  Socrates,  he  testified  to  the  personal  sway  of  the 
great  ambassador  of  reason. 

So  we  here  to-night,  who  have  occupied  the  same  city  with  our 
guest  for  twenty  years,  can  testify  to  the  strength  we  have  gained, 
and  thus  illustrate  his  personal  sway  over  our  lives  and  our  hearts. 

His  intimate  friends  and  followers  can  say  of  him  what  Plato 
said  of  his  great  master:  "If  you  would  be  honored  with  my  com- 
pany, make  him  also  welcome  who  has  made  me  what  I  am." 

With  the  greatest  pleasure  of  our  lives,  this  goodly  company 
here  again  places  the  feet  of  our  guest  upon  the  threshold  of  a  new 
era  of  twenty  years,  knowing,  if  life  and  health  be  preserved,  that 
his  work  will  mark  a  still  more  brilliant  epoch  in  our  city's  ethics  and 
religion  and  literature. 

We  therefore  hail  the  guest  of  the  evening  as  the  friend  of  art, 
of  literature,  and  of  true  religion;  as  a  man  with  charity  for  all  and 
with  malice  toward  none. 


PO  E 


GEO.    HOWLAND,    ESQ. 


Poetry  is  not  fiction:    it  is  truth  too  great  for  prose.  "Swing. 

Twenty  years  !    with  what  sweet  pleasure 
The  fond  memories  we  treasure 

Of  all  that  to  us  they  have  brought  ! 
How  the  thought  unbidden  ranges 
Over  all  the  goodly  changes 

That  within  each  true  heart  have  been  wrought  ! 

We  no  dusty  path  have  threaded, 
To  the  past  forever  wedded, 

With  our  leader  so  trusted  and  true  ; 
But  where  fields  were  thickly  budded 
With  new  truths,  we  there  have  studied 

Their  unfolding  beneath  heaven's  blue. 


TO  PROF.   DAVID   SWING. 

We  would  seek  no  needless  quarrels 
With  the  devil  for  the  laurels 

In  a  fruitless  assault  to  be  won  ; 
But  would  strengthen  up  the  sinner 
With  true  wisdom  in  the  inner 

Man,  ere  yet  the  fierce  strife  is  begun. 

Not  with  scourging  and  with  fasting, 
Or  in  lamentations  lasting, 

Do  we  serve  at  a  shrine  that  we  dread  ; 
But  in  striving,  with  thanksgiving, 
To  make  life  well  worth  the  living, 

We  with  flowers  our  altars  have  spread. 

And  we  with  no  track  of  iron 
Lay  the  pathway  to  our  Zion, 

With  free  pass  to  a  new  world  of  bliss  ; 
But  in  friendship  with  our  neighbor, 
We  in  liberty  would  labor 

To  be  found  at  least  worthy  of  this. 

Nor  yet  idly  would  we  ponder, 
In  such  sad  and  solemn  wonder, 

When  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  shall  appear 
But  with  all  our  best  endeavor 
Would  we  fill  the  moments  ever, 

Till  we  make  it  all  heavenly  here. 

And,  perhaps,  in  the  hereafter, 
When  beneath  the  golden  rafter 

We  are  learning  life's  purpose  to  read, 
We,  like  children,  with  our  lettered 
Blocks  of  wisdom,  all  unfettered, 

May  see  who  can  construct  the  best  creed. 

And  we  then,  perhaps,  unparted, 
To  our  wise,  our  simple-hearted, 

Our  golden-lipped  teacher  may  turn, 
Of  the  many  hidden  beauties 
Of  that  life  and  its  glad  duties, 

In  his  fitly  framed  phrase  still  to  learn. 


10  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

THE   GROWTH    OF    RELIGIOUS    IDEAS. 


REV.  HIRAM    W.  THOMAS,  D.  D. 


"The  wooden  plow  has  not  grown  any  more  rapidly  than  the  wooden  God." — Swing. 

When  we  speak  of  the  growth  of  religious  ideas,  we  should 
discriminate  between  ideas  and  the  things  for  which  they  stand. 
Things  have  an  existence  in  themselves,  and  wholly  apart  from  the 
minds  by  which  they  are  perceived.  The  mind  of  man  does  not,  by 
thinking,  create ;  it  performs  the  humbler  task  of  perceiving  what 
already  is.  The  thoughts  of  the  Creator  having  taken  shape  in 
worlds  and  systems,  and  having  in  this  way  been  objectivized,  man 
then  comes  to  be  a  learner.  The  earth  might  be  here  just  the 
same  were  there  no  human  beings  to  puzzle  over  its  mysteries, 
and  no  eyes  to  behold  its  beauty.  It  was  here,  and  was  round, 
and  revolved  through  space,  when  men  thought  it  was  flat  and 
stationary. 

And  so  God  and  the  principles  of  religion  exist  apart  from  the 
minds  by  which  they  are  perceived  ;  and  in  their  essential  existence 
they  are  what  they  are ;  nor  can  the  thinking  of  man  make  them 
other  or  different.  But  men  have  in  all  ages  formed  conceptions  of 
the  Divine,  and  these  conceptions  have  taken  shape  in  creeds  or 
statements  of  belief.  These  may  grow  ;  they  have  grown  with  the 
growth  of  intelligence  ;  but  all  the  time  God,  and  the  principles  of 
religion,  have  remained  the  same.  And  hence  the  growth  of  relig- 
ious ideas  has  been  a  result  of  the  growth  of  the  mind  and  heart 
of  man. 

And  thus  we  may  see  that  the  growth  of  religious  ideas  finds  its 
natural  and  not  unexpected  place  as  a  part  of  the  growth  of  mind 
in  everything  else  ;  for  we  can  no  longer  study  religion  by  itself.  It 
forms  a  part  of  the  many  other  great  facts  and  problems  with  which 
our  world  has  to  deal.  Religion  has  traveled  along  in  company  with 
government,  and  art,  and  science,  and  has  not  only  been  affected  by 
these  surrounding  conditions,  but  has  shared  in  their  many  fortunes 
and  misfortunes. 


TO   PROF.    DAVID   SWING.  11 

It  is  only  natural  that  religious  ideas  should  have  grown  with  the 
growth  of  the  world.  Not  that  we  would  affirm  that  the  ideas 
of  religion  have  had  only  an  earthly  and  human  origin, — that  they 
have  been  evolved  out  of  the  nature  and  the  environments  of  the 
mind  of  man.  Each  form  of  life  has  its  own  peculiar  nature,  and  is 
unfolded  along  the  line  of  its  own  possibilities.  But  when  we  come 
to  man,  we  find  a  being  who  is  not  only  related  to  the  earth,  but  has 
progressive  and  improvable  powers  ;  he  has  reason  and  self- 
consciousness,  and  a  part  of  his  lofty  nature — the  spiritual — opens 
up  to  God.  And  hence  man  has  been  the  subject  of  a  divine 
illuminism. 

This  illuminism  has  been  shared  in  some  sense  by  all  nations  ; 
but  in  its  fullest  and  most  distinctive  sense  it  was  limited  to  the 
Hebrew  and  the  Christian  religions.  But  even  with  these  revelation 
was  itself  progressive,  so  that  we  can  plainly  discern  the  growth 
or  development  of  religious  ideas  from  Abraham  to  Moses,  and 
from  Moses  and  the  Prophets  on  to  its  culmination  in  The 
Christ,  where  God  is  fully  revealed  as  a  Father,  as  a  Spirit,  and 
religion  becomes  no  longer  an  outer  form,  but  a  kingdom, — a  life 
in  the  heart. 

But  through  all  these  ages  God  was  the  same,  and  the  essential 
principles  of  religion  were  the  same,  and  hence  the  growth  was  not 
in  these,  but  in  the  mind  and  heart  of  man  ;  and,  when  man  could 
understand  a  spiritual  religion,  from  that  uplifted  point  of  vision, 
religion  took  on  the  larger  thought  of  immortality, — a  kingdom  of 
principles  moving  on  forever. 

Thus  God  appears  as  the  teacher  and  the  leader  of  mankind  ; 
but  the  divine  idea  of  religion  is  so  large  as  to  include  all  truth, — the 
truth  of  philosophy,  of  science,  of  history.  And  hence  religious  ideas 
have  shared  in  the  growth  of  all  these.  The  wonderful  awakening 
that  we  call  the  reformation,  was  not  of  religion  alone,  but  was  a 
part  of  a  general  movement  of  thought,  quickened  and  intensified  by 
the  inventions  and  discoveries  of  those  great  years.  The  printing 
press,  the  new  astronomy,  and  the  new  ideas  of  the  church  and 
religion,  all  moved  along  together.  And  with  the  larger  universe, 
and  the  larger  and  better  conceptions  of  God,  men  have  gone  on 


12  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

thinking  better  and  better  of  God,  until  to  think  of  Him  at  all  they 
must  think  of  Him  not  only  as  good,  but  as  the  best.  And  thinking 
better  of  God,  our  world  has  come  to  think  better  of  itself.  And  hence 
the  old  views,  that  so  long  filled  all  the  future  with  an  awful  fear 
and  foreboding,  have  been  so  modified  that  a  new  hope  has  taken 
the  place  of  the  old  despair. 

The  growth  of  religious  ideas  has  been  very  marked  in  our  day, 
and  in  the  twenty  years  since  Prof.  Swing  began  his  ministry  in 
Chicago.  A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  the  views  of  Bishop  Colenso 
created  no  little  controversy  in  the  Church  of  England  and  in 
orthodox  circles  generally.  Now  these  views  are  quite  generally 
accepted  by  the  thinking  public.  The  same  was  true  of  Dr.  Bush- 
nell's  theory  of  the  atonement,  twenty-five  years  ago ;  but  now  his 
books  are  in  nearly  every  minister's  library,  and  the  doctrine  of  the 
suffering  of  love  to  save,  is  rapidly  displacing  the  cold,  penal  and 
commercial  conception  of  the  death  of  Christ.  Canon  Farrar,  in 
his  "Eternal  Hope,"  and  "Justice  and  Judgment,"  has  written  more 
powerfully,  perhaps,  than  any  other  man,  against  the  old  dogmas  of 
endless  punishment ;  and  yet  Canon  Farrar  was  welcomed  by  the 
orthodox  clergy  in  all  the  great  cities  of  this  land.  Such  a  welcome 
could  not  have  been  possible  thirty  years  ago,  nor  when  Prof. 
Swing  came  to  our  city. 

And  in  all  this  there  is  not  revealed  a  looseness  or  an  in- 
difference to  religious  truth,  but  a  positive  growth  of  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  people,  a  larger  and  a  better  theology  ;  higher  views 
of  God,  and  of  man  and  his  destiny  in  the  world  to  come.  And 
those  holding  these  views,  and  trying  to  do  good,  will  soon  be 
welcomed  by  the  great  army  of  religious  workers. 

The  strange  history  of  the  church  in  the  past  has  been,  that  it 
has  never  been  large  enough  to  hold  the  thinking  of  the  people, 
not  even  of  the  children  taught  in  its  own  schools.  And  it  naturally 
followed,  that,  when  the  church  was  not  broad  enough  to  hold  two 
thoughts  at  the  same  time,  if  any  one  got  a  new  idea  he  had  to  get 
a  church  to  put  it  in  !  It  was  so  when  the  Greek  church  left  the 
Latin,  and  so  when  Luther  sought  to  make  men  and  women  kings 
and  priests  before  God,      And  when  some   one  got  an  idea  that 


TO  PROF.    DAVID   SWING.  13 

baptism  was  by  immersion  only,  he  had  to  get  a  church  to  put  that 
in ;  and  there  had  to  be  a  church  to  hold  the  ideas  of  Calvin  and 
Wesley.  Some  one  came  to  think  that  God  was  so  one  that  he 
could  not  be  three,  and  there  had  to  be  a  Unitarian  church.  George 
Fox  thought  that  religion  was  less  an  outer  form,  and  more  a  sub- 
jective life,  and  there  had  to  be  a  Quaker  church;  and,  for  the  better 
hope  of  our  poor  world  in  the  future,  there  had  to  be  a  Universalist 
church. 

And  there  came  one  in  our  day  who  loved  God,  who  loved  man, 
who  loved  nature,  who  loved  the  true  wherever  found,  and  loved 
beauty  in  every  form ;  one  whose  home  was  Chicago,  and  whose 
religion  was  to  do  good  ;  and  for  him  there  had  to  be  a  Central 
Church. 

By  patience,  by  learning,  by  suffering,  by  piety,  by  long  and  hard 
work,  Prof.  Swing,  whom  we  gladly  honor  at  this  hour,  has  made 
possible  a  larger  personal  liberty  for  the  mind  and  heart  of  man;  he 
has  made  smoother  the  paths  for  other  feet,  and  brighter  the  way  that 
leads  to  Heaven  and  God. 


MODERN  CHICAGO. 


REV.  SIMON  J.    M  PHERSON,  D.  D. 


"  Earth,  under  the  touch  of  Man's  mind,  is  a  miniature  of  the  Universe  under  the  touch 
of  God." — Swing. 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  one  about  this  toast  —  Modern 
Chicago — is,  that  like  a  tramp  it  goes  everywhere  and  starts  no- 
where. Our  city  is  so  utterly  modern  that  it  evidently  inspired 
those  lines  which  Tennyson  meant  to  write:  "Better  fifty  years  of 
Chicago  than  a  cycle  of  Philadelphia."  Fancy  asking  the  guest  of 
the  evening  to  describe  that  particular  period  of  his  career  which 
belongs  to  ancient  history  !  Yet,  Prof.  Swing,  despite  his  beardless 
condition,  is  really  older  than  Chicago.  It  would  require  an 
Egyptian  guide's  capacity  for  inventing  antiquities  to  discourse  on 
so  purely  imaginary  a  theme  as  Ancient  Chicago,  and  I  do  not  won- 


14  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

der  that  a  predestined  bishop  ran  away  to  old  Mexico  to  escape  a 
subject  which  has  received  so  slight  a  heritage  from  the  "  Fathers." 
New  York  had  a  pre-existing  state  as  New  Amsterdam.  But  in 
Chicago's  prehistoric  times  it  was  nothing  but  a  river,  so  sluggish 
and  insignificant  that  it  was  often  indifferently  called  St.  Louis. 
London  eked  out  two  miserable  millenniums  before  she  could  afford 
a  first-class  fire  ;  but,  with  less  than  forty  years  of  effort,  Chicago 
forever  blotted  out  the  records  of  1666  with  her  palimpsest  of 
October,  187 1.  A  few  school-boys  still  remember  that  Paris,  which 
is  now  so  old  a  maid  that  she  has  at  least  stopped  growing,  is 
described  in  Caesar's  "Commentaries"  as  "Lutetja,"  "a  collection 
of  mud  huts."  But  Caesar  refers  to  Chicago  only  prophetically  in  his 
opening  sentence,  "All  Gaul  is  divided  into  three  parts,"  where 
Gaul  is  obviously  a  misprint  for  Chicago,  since  Julius  must  have  had 
in  mind  the  South,  North  and  West  Sides,  with  a  great  Roman's 
natural  preference  for  the  Cisalpine,  or  South  Side.  Hence,  in 
order  to  find  any  background  for  my  remarks,  I  must  remind  you 
that,  like  Minerva,  Chicago  was  already  old  when  she  was  born  ; 
and,  in  order  to  keep  to  my  appointed  subject,  I  must  take  the 
standpoint  of  the  daily  newspaper,  to  which  the  news  of  the  day 
before  yesterday  is  ancient  history.  By  putting  emphasis  upon  an 
alternative  title  for  this  toast — The  Chicago  of  1886 — we  may  find  a 
foot-hold  for  a  couple  of  familiar  remarks. 

One  is  that  the  Chicago  of  1886  is  peculiarly  tolerant  of  conflict- 
ing opinions,  even  in  religion.  This  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  her 
spirit  is  uncommonly  humanitarian  ;  and,  as  we  know,  the  revival 
of  the  "humanities"  historically  preceded  the  Reformation,  which 
restored  liberty  of  conscience.  The  pathetic  needs  and  struggles, 
the  high  aspirations,  the  transcendent  possibilities,  of  human  nature, 
have  found  in  our  honored  guest  a  noble  exponent,  and  that  fact 
gives  him  one  kind  of  right  to  represent  Chicago. 

When  I  came  here  an  inexperienced  immigrant  from  New  Jersey, 
three  or  four  years  ago,  I  was  surprised  at  receiving  a  universal  wel- 
come from  ministers  of  every  ecclesiastical  name,  and  also  from  rep- 
resentatives of  our  celebrated  "no  name  series."  One  day  I  asked 
a  Baptist  neighbor  why  Chicago  should  thus  show  finer  denomina- 


TO   PROF.    DAVID   SWING.  15 

tional  harmonies  than  any  other  city.  He  replied  :  "  Oh,  that  ques- 
tion is  easy  to  answer.  We  are  all  so  much  engaged  in  fighting 
the  devil  that  we  have  neither  time  nor  disposition  to  fight  one 
another."  "Thank  God,"  I  answered,  "for  revealing  another  of 
Chicago's  great  achievements  ;  she  has  discovered  a  good  use  for 
the  devil." 

Perhaps  you  have  never  heard  that  modern  Chicago  is  a  cosmo- 
politan city  !  Even  though  it  sadly  lack  other  characteristics  of 
Pentecost,  it  does  possess  "men  out  of  every  nation  under  Heaven." 
Its  climate  is  consequently  unfavorable  to  bigots.  If  you  want  to 
manufacture  narrow  men,  you  must  cage  them  up  in  a  corner  of  the 
world,  where  they  can  become  familiar  with  only  one  set  of  notions. 
Fanaticism  is  like  the  figure  of  rhetoric  called  synecdoche:  it  puts  a 
part  for  the  whole.  I  remember  a  young  minister,  fresh  from  the 
theological  seminary,  preaching  one  of  his  first  sermons  in  the  church 
which  had  called  him.  When  he  had  finished,  a  wise  and  friendly 
elder,  who  had  been  so  much  among  men  that  he  forgot  more  every 
year  than  his  juvenile  pastor  had  ever  learned,  met  him  at  the  foot 

of  the  pulpit  stairs,  and  said,  "  Mr. ,  I  wish  that  I  could  be  as 

sure  of  anything  in  the  world  as  you  seem  to  be  about  everything  in 
the  universe."  As  men  grow  wiser,  they  become  less  sure  about 
some  opinions,  and  more  tolerant  about  most  opinions.  A  cosmo- 
politan city  like  modern  Chicago  has  a  bad  climate  for  one  whose 
foible  is  self-conscious  omniscience.  I  recognize  the  fact  that 
tolerance  of  conflicting  opinions  is  an  inconvenience  for  men  in 
authority.  Torquemada  and  Robespierre  were  far  more  effective 
than  we  can  be  in  silencing  opponents.  But  the  consequence  of 
their  method  was  that  Torquemada's  Spain  grew  idiotic,  and  Robes- 
pierre was  beheaded  by  his  own  guillotine.  I  know,  too,  that,  when 
our  knowledge  becomes  perfect,  tolerance  will  be  a  useless  virtue. 
But,  so  long  as  the  wisest  of  us  has  only  a  fragment  of  all  wisdom, 
charity  will  remain  a  higher  grace  than  forcible  uniformity  of 
opinion. 

Two  things  seem  to  me  essential  to  true  tolerance:  First,  in- 
dividuals need  to  cherish  strong  and  sincere  opinions.  Indifference 
is  the  tragic  mask  of  tolerance.     We  must  each  put  the  emphasis  of 


16  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

life  upon  what  he  thinks  and  believes,  rather  than  upon  what  he 
doubts  or  ignores.  Tolerance  is  impossible  to  those  who  are  intel- 
lectually fibreless  and  morally  flabby  ;  for  they  leave  nothing  to 
tolerate.  Secondly,  individuals  can  be  tolerant  only  by  cherishing 
a  generous  spirit.  We  must  not  be  technical  and  microscopic  in  the 
righteous  exercise  of  love.  Broad  wit  is  intolerable,  broad  opinions 
are  despicably  loose;  but  broad  charity  is  the  mantle  that  falls  down 
upon  the  waiting  prophet  of  God  out  of  the  ascending  chariot  of 
Heaven. 

Now,  of  this  tolerance  in  opinion  which  is  so  characteristic  of 
modern  Chicago,  Prof.  Swing — to  his  honor  be  it  spoken — has  been 
a  conspicuous  apostle  and  representative.  For  that  reason  largely 
he  has  been  Chicago's  darling;  I  may  say,  Chicago's  Patton-ted 
darling.  That  darling,  after  twenty  years  of  honeymoon,  is  still 
pressed  to  Chicago's  bosom,  while  Dr.  Patton  has  gone  to  another 
world,  to  find  his  earthly  Paradise  in  Princeton.  You  are  all  tolerant 
enough  here  to-night,  I  hope,  to  remember  him  as  a  man  of  almost 
peerless  ability  in  some  directions;  tolerant  enough  to  congratulate 
him  on  finding  our  Princeton  theology  according  to  his  own  heart, 
even  though  to  some  of  you  that  he  left  behind  him,  it  seems  the 
very  opposite  of  St.  John's  little  book,  sweet  in  the  mouth,  but  bitter 
in  the  digested  state. 

As  you  see,  I  am  not  forgetting  that  your  guest  to-night  was 
once  a  Presbyterian.  Of  course  that  is  all  in  the  preterit  or  even 
pluperfect  tense  now ;  perhaps  I  am  mistaken  ;  it  may  be  that  I, 
who  have  only  infinitesimal  hankerings  after  war,  even  against 
supposed  heresies,  cannot  claim  to  represent  fully  the  brethren  of 
my  own  ancestral  faith,  in  whose  essential  tenets  I  cordially  agree  ; 
but,  son  of  Scotch  Covenanters  as  I  am,  I  have  a  fancy  that  if  my 
friend,  the  St.  John  who  now  presides  over  the  First  Church  of 
modern  Ephesus,  had  been  the  prosecutor  in  a  certain  famous  eccle- 
siastical trial,  Prof.  Swing  would  still  be  a  Presbyterian  to-day,  or 
at  least  would  be  much  more  nearly  one  than  he  is.  At  any  rate,  he 
can  reach  some  of  you  with  sermons,  who  would  be  very  slow  to 
give  any  of  the  rest  of  us  ministers  a  chance  at  you.  Meantime, 
see  how  we  Presbyterians,  grown  tolerant  in  modern  Chicago,  have 


TO  PROF.   DAVID   SWING.  17 

improved  our  methods  of  supplying  another  church  with  one  of  our 
bright  preachers.  One  of  us  rises  in  his  place,  and  announces  his 
reasons,  theoretical  and  practical,  for  desiring  to  exchange  his  plain 
frock  coat  for  gown  and  cassock,  perhaps  for  exchanging  also, 
according  to  an  illustrious  precedent,  his  silk  hat  for  the  mitre,  and 
his  worst  punishment  is  to  have  a  photograph  of  some  criminal 
printed  in  the  newspapers  as  his  portrait.  The  Episcopal  church 
has  every  reason  to  be  happy ;  for  she  knows  that  it  is  not  with 
"  true  blue  "  that  Green  ought  to  harmonize.  The  Presbyterian 
church  congratulates  her  sister,  and  cheerfully  says  to  her  departing 
friend  :  "Au  revoir,  brother ;  you  will  be  back  with  us  again  when 
we  all  get  to  Heaven." 

Secondly — The  Chicago  of  1886  can  celebrate  a  golden  oppor- 
tunity to  transfer  the  emphasis  of  her  marvelous  energies  from  the 
material  to  the  spiritual.  The  twenty  years  that  we  recall  to-night 
have  already  witnessed  a  unique  transformation.  Long  ago  we  real- 
ized the  myth  of  Phoenix ;  we  were  purified  of  wood,  hay,  stubble, 
and  established  in  stone,  by  fire.  The  "  panic "  exploited  the  vir- 
tues of  wild-cat  speculation.  Eastern  capital  has  largely  ceased  to 
enshackle  us  as  creditors.  The  infant  Chicago  has  grown  to  man- 
hood, and  with  manhood  it  should  be  ready  to  put  away  childish 
things, — the  devotion  of  all  its  energies,  as  in  babyhood  and  boyhood, 
to  the  mere  building  up  of  its  physical  body.  The  natural  time  has 
come  for  Chicago  to  cultivate  mind  and  heart  and  soul.  The  fine 
arts  should  succeed  to  the  mechanic  arts.  Books  should  be  as  com- 
mon and  influential  as  trade-marks.  Our  institutions  of  learning 
should  no  longer  be  a  by-word  abroad  ;  we  should  learn  to  educate 
our  sons  and  daughters  at  home  as  far  as  Harvard,  or  Oxford  or 
Berlin  could  bear  them.  Ethics  should  abate  our  ardor  for  physics. 
We  must  learn  our  momentous  moral  responsibilities  to  the  vast  depen- 
dency of  the  North  and  West.  We  cannot  live  forever  simply  by 
and  for  our  flat,  rich,  bottomless  prairies.  We  must  look  up  to  the 
mountain  of  Calvary,  which  waters  all  outlying  foot-hills, — the  Hima- 
layas, the  Apennines,  the  Alleghanies  and  Rockies. 

And  this  must  we  in  modern  Chicago  do,  if  we  would  truly  honor 
the  guest  of  the  evening,  by  carrying  out  his  highest  wish  for  us. 


18  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

His  works  are  fine  specimens  of  an  indigenous  literature.  His  name  is 
associated  with  nearly  every  up-look  in  art  and  ethics.  Almost  his  latest 
utterances  have  urged  us  to  the  Herculean  task  of  cleansing  our 
municipal  Augean  stables.  The  names  of  Washington,  of  Wesley, 
of  Savonarola,  of  Chrysostom,  of  Jesus  Christ,  are  not  strangers  to  his 
influential  lips.  As  he  sits  at  this  banquet  table  of  friends  to-night, 
he  thinks,  no  doubt,  of  the  immortal  marriage  feast  of  the  King's 
Son.  If  we  accept  his  best  counsel,  the  Chicago  of  1886  shall  be  no 
more  to  the  Chicago  that  is  to  come  than  the  Jerusalem  of  old  was 
to  the  promised  new  Jerusalem  that  shall  be  eternal  in  the  heavens. 


MAY  OR  SHOULD  A  CLERGYMAN  READ  NOVELS. 


REV.  DAVID  UTTER. 


"A  novel  is  human  thought,  ornamented  by  a  woman  in  love." — Swing. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  When  I  received  the 
invitation  of  your  committee  to  be  present  on  this  occasion  and 
make  a  speech  upon  the  question,  "  Should  ministers  read  novels  ?" 
I  was  so  delighted  with  the  idea,  after  having  been  a  heretic  for  so 
many  years,  and  somewhat  out  in  the  cold,  of  being  once  more  in 
good  orthodox  company,  that  I  determined  to  prepare  my  extempo- 
raneous utterances  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  and  to  school  myself  to 
say  the  thing  that  would  naturally  be  expected  of  me.  And  know- 
ing, of  course,  from  the  orthodox  traditions  handed  down  from  our 
Puritan  ancestors,  that  it  was  altogether  wrong  and  out  of  place  for 
ministers  to  read  novels,  I  began  to  make  my  preparations  on  that 
line.  And,  in  looking  up  my  authorities,  where  should  I  go  but  to 
one  of  the  most  famous  preachers  of  the  first  century  of  American 
history,  the  man  who  wrote  more  books  than  any  other  man  of 
his  time  in  this  country,  wrote  and  published  more  books  than 
any  other  man  who  has  ever  lived    in   this  country,  and  about  as 


TO  PROF.   DAVID   SWING.  19 

many  as  any  man  ever  wrote  in  the  world  ;  I  refer  to  the  Rev. 
Cotton  Mather. 

The  book  of  his  that  I  found  that  seemed  to  bear  most  directly 
upon  the  question  in  hand  was  a  little  volume,  "  Manductio  Theo- 
logicum,"  being  instructions  given  a  young  man  preparing  for  the 
Christian  ministry.  I  did  not  find  that  he  recommended  that  the 
young  man  should  read  any  novels.  Cotton  Mather  gives  no  evi- 
dence in  all  his  works  of  having  read  any, — it  cannot  be  proved, 
even,  I  am  told  by  capable  authority,  that  he  had  ever  read  a  line 
of  Shakespeare.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Mather  gives  his  young  divinity 
student  much  good  advice,  and,  among  other  things,  makes  out  a  list 
of  books  for  him  to  read,  the  titles  of  which  would  mean  very  little 
to  us,  and  I  am  sure  I  cannot  repeat  them.  If  the  question  of  novel 
reading  had  come  up,  the  Rev.  Cotton  Mather's  advice  would  no 
doubt  have  been  given  on  the  broad  and  comprehensive  principles 
laid  down  by  Caliph  Omar  in  regard  to  the  Alexandrian  Library. 
"If  these  books,"  said  the  Caliph,  "are  in  harmony  with  what  is 
written  in  the  Koran,  they  are  superfluous,  since  we  have  the 
Koran  ;  if  they  are  not  in  harmony  with  it,  they  are  pernicious  ;  so, 
at  any  rate,  let  them  be  destroyed."  Mr.  Mather  would  have  said  : 
"  If  the  novels  are  in  perfect  harmony  with  these  other  books  which 
I  recommend,  it  will  not  be  necessary  for  you  to  read  them,  as  these 
are  sufficient,  and  thoroughly  furnish  you  unto  all  good  works ;  if 
they  are  not  in  harmony  with  them,  they  are  pernicious  ;  so,  in  either 
case,  they  are  to  be  let  alone." 

Then,  in  proceeding  further  in  the  preparation  of  my  speech,  I 
was  looking  up  the  natural  reasons  for  letting  novels  alone,  and  I  had 
got  far  enough  to  see,  that,  if  a  minister  undertook  to  know  anything 
of  modern  fiction,  he  ought  to  know  it  quite  thoroughly,  lest  his 
people  think  him  a  smatterer ;  and  that  to  know  modern  fiction 
thoroughly  one  would  have  no  time  for  studying  anything  else;  and 
I  was  about  to  set  this  down  as  a  good  point,  when,  imagine  my  con- 
sternation, it  was  whispered  to  me  that  our  guest  for  this  evening, 
Prof.  Swing,  himself  was  a  reader  of  novels,  and  approved  the 
practice!  So,  of  course,  there Vas  nothing  for  it  but  to  throw  all  my 
speech  away,  and  take  a  different  tack  altogether;  and  I  am  here  to 


20  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

say  that  novel  reading  is  expected  of  any  modern  minister.  Any 
man  who  would  keep  up  with  the  times,  know  what  his  people  are 
thinking,  must  read  what  they  are  reading,  and,  whatever  the  sub- 
stance of  that  reading  may  be,  the  form  of  it  is  pretty  sure  to  be 
fiction. 

Each  age  seems  to  have  its  favorite  literary  form  ;  with  Homer 
it  was  the  epic,  in  Shakespeare's  time  it  was  the  drama,  and  in  our 
age  it  seems  to  be  the  novel;  whatever  a  man  would  write  to-day,  be 
it  science  or  history,  or  an  argument  setting  forth  some  new  theory 
of  art  or  some  new  theory  of  the  universe,  the  form  in  which  he 
must  cast  his  thought,  if  he  would  find  ready  readers,  must  be  that 
of  the  novel.  There  is  doubtless  a  deep  reason  for  this.  Goethe 
says,  "  Beauty  is  a  manifestation  of  a  secret  law  of  nature,  which,  but 
for  such  manifestation,  would  forever  remain  hidden."  But  beauty 
is  greatly  in  the  eye  that  sees  it,  and  the  beauty  of  this  modern 
form  in  which  the  thought  of  humanity  of  the  present  seeks  chiefly 
to  present  itself,  seems  to  have  been  revealed  chiefly  to  modern 
eyes.  Yet  I  doubt  not  Goethe  is  right;  and,  believing  the  beauty  of 
fiction  to  be  a  real  beauty,  I  feel  sure  that  it  indicates  a  real  advance 
in  the  art  of  human  expression.  The  deeper  and  finer  shades  of 
human  thought  and  emotion  are  better  set  forth  in  that  form  of 
narrative  which,  while  describing  things  as  they  actually  exist,  yet 
shows  all  in  an  ideal  light  that,  while  showing  us  what  is  true,  shows 
us  truths  of  purer  and  higher  kinds  than  we  are  able  to  embody  in 
our  everyday  living. 

Then,  of  course,  I  could  see,  after  I  came  round  to  the  right  side  of 
the  question,  that  it  was  necessary  for  a  minister  to  read  novels  in  order 
to  know  what  to  recommend  to  the  members  of  his  flock.  How  could 
he  condemn  that  which  he  had  not  read  ?  how  could  he  recommend 
that  with  which  he  was  unacquainted  ?  And  surely  no  part  of  his 
ministry  is  more  often  really  helpful  than  the  putting  of  the  right 
books  into  the  hands  of  a  person,  young  or  old.  The  novel  has  ad- 
vantages for  such  purposes  over  every  other  sort  of  book.  More 
frequently  than  any  other  book  the  novel  awakens  the  desire  to 
read;  and  no  greater  service  can  any  of  us  ever  do  a  fellow-man 
than  to  awaken  within  him  the  desire  for  literature  of  the  higher  and 


TO  PROF.  DAVID   SWING.  21 

better  kind.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  mysteries,  this  awakening  to 
intellectual  life:  no  man  can  say  with  certainty  what  will  accomplish 
it,  at  what  time  of  life  it  is  most  likely  to  be  accomplished,  or 
whether  the  awakening  will  ever  take  place.  It  is  like  the  kindling 
of  a  fire:  sometimes  a  very  little  flame  will  kindle  that  which  makes 
a  very  great  light;  sometimes  with  greatest  effort  nothing  can  be 
done.  But  no  human  device  has  ever  led  so  many  people  to  read 
and  think,  and  think  and  read  again,  as  this  form  of  thought  ex- 
pression which  we  call  fiction,  or  the  novel. 

And  so,  Mr.  Chairman,  upon  the  whole  I  would  heartily  answer 
this  question  affirmatively:  Ministers  may,  ministers  should,  all  wide- 
awake, practical  ministers  must,  read  novels.  And  now  that  I  have 
said  this,  I  wish  the  subject  of  my  speech  were  changed;  at  any  rate, 
if  the  subject  were,  instead  of  "Should  a  minister  read  novels?" 
"  Should  a  minister  write  a  novel  ? "  I  would  like,  in  regard  to  one 
prominent  minister  of  Chicago,  to  give  an  affirmative  answer.  I 
know  one  minister  whom  I  should  like  to  exhort  to  write  a  novel, 
and  that  is  our  guest  of  the  evening,  Prof.  Swing. 


THE  PRESS  AND  THE  CLERGY. 


HON.    FRANK    GILBERT. 


"The  newspaper  hauls  the  rough  marble,  out  of  which  the  historian  rrry  build  eternal 
temples." — Swing. 

It  is  evident  that  the  toastmaster  of  this  festal  occasion  is  not  a 
Paulist ;  for  the  most  illustrious  doctor  of  the  higher  law  said  :  "  Be 
ye  not  unequally  yoked  together,"  and  certainly  the  clergy  and  the 
press  are  not  exactly  a  matched  span.  As  well  compare  the  temple 
of  Karnak  and  the  Crib.  One  is  of  to-day,  and,  in  its  best  estate,  of 
each  day ;  the  other  is  as  old  as  the  race,  for  it  is  universal  human 
nature  to  be  afraid  of  the  mysterious,  to  feel  some  apprehension 


22  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

about   the   future,  some   curiosity  about  the  unknowable,  and   to 
exercise  some  skill  in  explaining  the  inexplicable. 

The  press  professes  not  to  deal  in  eternal  verities.  So  far  from 
feeding  the  public  with  the  bread  of  which  if  a  man  eat  he  shall 
never  hunger,  it  must  of  necessity  gather  fresh  manna  every  day  ; 
and  the  one  unpardonable  sin  with  the  press  is  to  call  to  mind  that 
bit  of  nursery  lore,  "  What  they  could  not  eat  that  night  the  Queen 
next  morning  fried."  The  clergy  deals  with  the  truths  which 
belong  to  all  time  and  to  all  eternity.  So  far,  indeed,  from  doling 
out  the  rations  which  perish  with  the  using,  masons  are  they 
building  with  stones  quarried  from  the  Rock  of  Ages  heavenward 
aspiring  towers  ;  and  they  cannot  be  thwarted  by  any  confusion  of 
tongues,  for  they  can  build  in  all  languages. 

And  yet,  notwithstanding  these  surface  contrasts,  they  possess 
deep  lines  of  similarity.  If  one  is  actual  and  the  other  theological, 
both  can  say,  and  say  it  with  equal  emphasis:  "The  field  is  the 
world."  Their  libraries,  unlike  those  of  the  lawyer  and  the  doctor, 
are  not  professional  and  special,  but  broad  and  universal.  The 
preacher  and  the  editor  must  both  pursue  their  studies  wherever  the 
star  of  genius  shines,  or  the  spade  of  research  digs.  The  pews 
demand  that  intellectual  grip  which  comes  of  familiarity  with  the 
latest  knowledge  and  with  the  best  thought,  and  the  journalist  who 
confines  his  range  of  ideas  to  current  events  and  discussions  will 
shrivel  into  a  mere  organ-grinder. 

Better  and  best  of  all,  to  the  two  professions  apply  the  same  ethi- 
cal rules.  What  could  be  more  appropriate  for  either  the  editor's 
sanctum  or  the  preacher's  study  than  the  prospectus  of  the  first 
American  newspaper,  which  runs:  "  Say  nothing  which  is  not  believed 
to  be  true,  repairing  to  the  best  fountains  for  information,  and,  if  any 
material  mistake  is  made,  correct  it  in  the  next  issue."  Facts  and 
truths  equally  demand  perfect  sincerity,  tireless  investigation,  and 
the  honorable  correction  of  error.  Both  professions  also  demand 
the  clear  recognition  of  certain  limitations.  The  ethical  abomination 
of  the  daily  press  is  a  surfeit  of  criminal  news,  and  the  more  correct 
the  reports,  the  worse  their  influence. 

But  it  is  to  be  remembered  that,  while  the  clergy  portray  the 


TO  PROF.    DAVID   SWING.  23 

world  as  it  should  be,  the  press  deals  with  and  shows  the  world  as 
it  is.  One  has  to  do  with  the  ideal,  the  other  with  the  actual,  and 
there  is  no  other  agency  of  reform  so  potent  as  the  newspaper,  with 
its  light  focalized  upon  passing  events.  The  clergy  has  a  different 
but  no  less  notable  limitation.  The  true  preacher  is  not  a  prisoner 
immured  within  a  dungeon  creed,  walled  in  and  shut  out  from  the 
light  of  day  by  ancient  symbols  and  formulas,  his  only  luminary  the 
tallow  dip  of  by-gone  thoughts.  The  platform,  to  vary  the  figure, 
whereon  he  stands,  is  the  deck  of  a  ship  in  mid-ocean,  with  her  sails 
full  set  to  catch  every  breeze  that  makes  for  righteousness  and  prog- 
ress. He  sees  only  the  few  objects  which  float  within  the  range  of 
a  narrow  vision  ;  but  he  knows  very  well  that  there  are  continents  of 
truth  lying  beyond  his  limited  horizon.  Consistency  is  indeed  a 
jewel ;  but,  when  purchased  at  the  expense  of  candor  and  sincerity, 
it  becomes  the  veriest  pinchbeck. 

Fortunately  the  lofty  teachings  of  him  whose  life  work  is  in  all 
our  thoughts  to-night  has  not  been  circumscribed  by  any  pulpit. 
The  press  has  furnished  him  an  audience  beyond  the  capacity  even 
of  a  coliseum.  And  in  this  higher  use  the  press  is  not  a  one-man 
power.  The  Monday  issue  of  a  properly  conducted  newspaper  is  a 
symposium  of  thoughts  upon  the  great  solemnities.  The  longing 
thoughts  of  philosophy  and  scholarship  still  go  back  to  Athens.  In 
the  noon-tide  of  her  intellectual  splendor  her  academy  was  the 
brain  centre  of  the  world.  Studious  youth  from  far  and  near  flocked 
thither  to  sip  the  honey  of  Attic  wisdom.  Long  and  tedious  jour- 
neys, fraught  with  great  peril  and  hardship,  were  accounted  a 
small  price  to  pay  for  the  privilege  of  catching  the  words  which  fell 
from  the  lips  of  those  classic  teachers.  But  in  these  latter  days  one 
has  only  to  invest  a  nickel,  and  above  him  sway  the  stately  plane 
trees  of  the  grove.  With  the  regularity  of  Monday  morning,  a 
goodly  number  of  the  clergy  take  their  accustomed  walk  from  the 
Piraeeus  along  the  cool  and  shady  Ilissus.  It  is  not  a  promiscuous 
detail  either,  but  rather  a  picked  company  of  choice  spirits.  The 
unfortunates  who  are  left  in  the  lurch  may  assuage  their  chagrin  and 
envy  by  blatant  outcry  against  the  press;  but  the  procession  moves 
on  all  the  same.     And  with  those  chosen  few  goes  a  mighty  multi- 


24  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

tude  of  laymen — men  of  business  and  the  other  professions — who  are 
blessed  with  some  thoughts  above  the  muck-rake.  Better  still,  among 
the  throng,  unseen  perhaps,  but  intently  listening,  march  the  bright- 
est spirits  among  the  clergy.  All  denominations  are  represented. 
They  take  as  they  go  lessons  in  homiletics,  in  religion  intershot  with 
philosophy  and  set  to  sermons.  Thus,  thanks  to  the  natural  selection 
of  the  press  and  the  clergy,  has  there  been  founded  a  training  school 
for  the  ministry, which  has  the  advantage  of  the  grove  without  its  dis- 
comforts. It  exerts  an  immeasurably  potential  influence  upon  pul- 
pit and  pew. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  allow  me  to  offer  the  sentiment :  This 
new  academy  of  Chicago,  may  it  long  enjoy  the  presence  and  always 
feel  the  influence  of  its  Plato. 


LITERARY     PAUPERIS 


MAJOR   JOSEPH    KIRKLAND. 

"The  landowner's  wealth  is  in  his  thousand  acres;   the  thinker's  wealth  is  in  his  thousand 
thoughts." — Swing. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentle?nen:  Why  is  it  that  literature 
and  poverty  are  the  Siamese  twins  of  history  ?  Why  are  the  men 
who  lead  the  thought  of  the  world  the  paupers  of  the  world  ?  We 
who  are  privileged  to  address  you  at  this  feast  are  expected  to  eat 
at  least  our  share  of  the  good  things  provided;  but  the  speakers  at 
the  world's  banquet  are  expected  to  live  on  bread  and  water.  It 
seems  as  if  penury  must  spring  from  the  root  "  penna,"  an  instrument 
for  writing. 

Honor  and  fame !  Admirable  and  delightful  abstractions  on 
which  the  poor  human  stomach  starves  to  death  !  Do  you  remember 
what  Falstaff  says,  as  quoted  by  a  sixteenth  century  writer  (either 
Shakespeare  or  Bacon,  I  am  not  sure  which,  but  suspect  it  was 
Bacon)?    Sir  John  says:    "Can  honor  set  a  leg?     No.     Or  an  arm  ? 


TO  PROF.   DAVID   SWING.  25 

No.  Or  take  away  the  grief  of  a  wound  ?  No.  Who  hath  it  ?  He 
that  died  a  Wednesday." 

I  think  St.  John,  in  the  Apocalypse,  must  have  been  dreaming  of 
the  empty  honor  of  unpaid  authorship,  when  he  spoke  of  the  little 
book  which  was  sweet  in  the  mouth,  but  bitter  in  the  belly. 

Our  honored  guest  of  this  evening  is  a  leader  of  the  thoughts, 
words  and  actions  of  men.  His  writings  are  a  perennial  fountain  of 
common  sense,  uncommon  wisdom,  charity,  and  love, — yea,  of  wit, 
fun,  laughter, — pure,  unrestrained,  because  unashamed.  Now,  sup- 
pose him  brought  down  to  living  upon  the  copyright  of  his  published 
works, — in  other  words,  on  literature  pure  and  simple.  I  violate  no 
confidence  when  I  tell  you  that,  though,  as  you  see  him  here,  he  is 
not  obese,  David  Swing  is  to-day  a  perfect  David  Davis  compared  to 
what  he  would  be  after  a  year  of  that  diet.     [Laughter.] 

And  if  he  cannot  make  literature  pay,  who  can  ?  No  one.  The 
atmosphere  is  too  thin,  and  no  wing  need  try  to  soar  to  immortality 
through  a  medium  too  thin  for  David's  wing.  Why  is  this  ?  Partly 
because  man,  ever  since  he  emerged  from  the  condition  of  the 
catarrhine  ape  into  that  of  catarrhal  human,  has  misapprehended 
the  relative  values  of  things.  He  has  considered  the  tangible  matters 
of  earth  to  be  permanent,  whereas  they  are  the  most  transient  of 
all.  They  perish  in  the  using.  Words  are  the  only  things  that  live 
forever,  and  words  and  thoughts  man  has  always  taken  as  cheap  as 
he  could  get  them, — usually  for  nothing.  A  second  reason  is  because 
law  has  not  yet  escaped  from  the  trammels  of  barbarism.  She  has 
freed  one  of  her  hands;  but  the  other  is  still  chained  to  the  rock. 
With  her  one  free  hand  she  has  done  wonders.  Starting  from  the 
modest  aim  of  protecting  a  man's  skin  and  bones,  a  little  later  his 
crops  and  his  flocks  and  herds,  she  reached  as  her  highest  flight  the 
protection  of  his  reputation  and  his  feelings.  In  this  last  task  she 
has  been  of  late  going  backward ;  but  then,  the  newspapers  have 
taken  the  job  off  her  hands.  Never  yet  has  she  soared  to  the 
height  of  recognizing  fully  private  property  in  published  words. 
Perhaps  in  some  millennium  of  time,  some  Utopia  of  place,  she  may 
give  us  copyrights  unending  in  duration,  unlimited  in  space  and 
untrammeled  in  scope  ;   but  this  is  far  away.     Meanwhile  there  is  a 


26  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

step  of  progress  now  possible ,  to  us.  The  bill  for  international 
copyright,  now  before  the  Senate,  may  become  a  law,  and  will,  if 
you  and  I  and  all  of  us  do  our  duty  and  bear  our  testimony.  Do 
you  know,  that,  in  this  matter  of  international  copyright,  America 
is  the  tail  of  the  procession  ?  Every  other  civilized  nation  on 
earth  has  already  announced  herself  as  too  rich  to  beg  and  too 
proud  to  steal.  America,  the  richest  and  the  proudest  of  all,  alone 
to-day  confesses  herself  poor  enough  to  beg  and  mean  enough  to 
steal.     This  law  will  relieve  her  from  that  stigma. 

The  late  lamented  Jim  Fisk,  at  a  critical  point  in  every  negotia- 
tion, used  to  ask:  "Where  be  I  in  this  thing?"  So  Chicago,  which 
follows  the  lead  of  Mr.  Fisk  in  some  matters,  may  now  ask  her- 
self: "Where  be  I  in  this  copyright  thing?"  Here  is  where  she 
stands.  She  is  about  to  come  into  possession  of  the  Newberry  free 
library, — probably  the  first  in  the  world,  not  even  excepting  the 
British  Museum.  Being  thus  provided  with  all  the  ready-made  liter- 
ature mankind  possesses,  will  she  ever  have  a  home-made  literature 
of  her  own  ?  As  things  stand  now,  she  will  not.  Her  rising  literati 
cannot  compete  with  a  literature  stolen  ready-made.  Zola  sends 
over  his  semi-annual  sewer-delivery,  and  it  is  furnished  in  our 
market  "  without  money  and  without  price."  Salvation  and  damna- 
tion are  quoted  at  the  same  rates  on  the  American  ticker.  As 
William  Nye  remarks,  "we  are  ruined  by  Chinese  cheap  labor." 
When  I  was  in  Washington  last  week,  a  Boston  publisher  testified, 
that,  owing  to  the  absence  of  international  copyright,  they  could  not 
publish  books  of  unknown  American  authors,  good  or  bad.  Every 
such  manuscript  offered  him — and  there  were  hundreds  of  them — 
was  returned  to  its  author,  unopened. 

If  the  copyright  measure  shall  become  a  law,  the  next  genera- 
tion of  Chicago  geniuses  may  present  a  literature  indigenous,  and 
worthy  of  its  birthplace.  In  the  last  Century  magazine  Charles  G. 
Leland  uses  a  figure  which  I  envy  him,  it  is  so  perfect  and  so  pat. 
As  he  did  not  copyright  it,  and  as  I  am  an  American,  I  will  steal  it. 
He  says:  "An  ancient  fable  relates,  that,  when  a  serpent  eats  the  brood 
of  another,  her  own  young  die  unborn  within  her."  I  do  not  think 
that  for  this  audience  I  need  to  elaborate  on  the  moral  of  this  fable. 


TO  PROF.   DAVID  SWING.  2? 

Let  us  do  honor  and  justice  to  our  beloved  guest  of  the  evening 
as  a  literary  man.  It  is  he  who  gave  me  my  text,  and  it  is  a  true 
and  worthy  apothegm,  "  The  landowner's  wealth  is  in  his  thousand 
acres:  the  thinker's  wealth  is  in  his  thousand  thoughts."  Therefore, 
let  us  refrain  from  stealing  the  latter  as  well  as  the  former. 


THE    MODERN    SERMON. 


REV.     ABBOTT    E.    KITTREDGE. 


"  Man  is  a  tree  whose  blossoms  are  sentiments,  and  fruit,  thoughts." — Swing. 

I  am  very  happy  to  be  with  you  this  evening,  and  to  bring  my 
hearty  congratulations  to  my  brother,  whom,  for  more  than 
fifteen  years,  I  have  loved  to  know,  and  known  only  to  love.  You 
have  asked  me  to  speak  on  the  "  Modern  Sermon,"  and  I  am  a  little 
puzzled  to  know  what  that  means.  If  it  had  been  the  "  Model  "  or 
"  Ideal  Sermon,"  the  meaning  would  have  been  plain;  but  even  then 
my  ideal  might  have  differed  from  yours,  and  so  my  painting  have 
been  a  disappointment.  I  will,  therefore,  interpret  my  topic  to 
signify  the  modern  sermon  as  contrasted  with  the  sermons  of  past 
centuries,  and  will  seek  to  show  in  what  respects  the  prevailing  type 
of  preaching  is  an  improvement  on  the  prevailing  types  of  the  past, 
and  how  far  the  best  sermon  of  to-day  conforms  to  the  preaching  by 
the  noblemen  of  the  pulpit  in  former  ages. 

We  will  notice  the  modern  sermon  in  its  theological  character.  It 
is  unmistakably  different  from  the  prevailing  type  of  sermons  in  recent 
centuries,  and  yet,  fundamentally,  it  is  the  same;  the  change  is  one 
simply  of  theological  adjustment.  There  was  a  time  when,  to  the  mind 
of  the  church,  the  truth  of  the  justice  of  God  stood  out  most  prom- 
inently, as  the  one  sublimest  doctrine  of  the  creed.  Sinai  was  in  the 
foreground,  with  Calvary  less  noticeable,  though  in  the  picture, — and 
always  the  theme  of  adoring  wonder  and  praise.     The  theology  of 


28  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

to-day  is  not  a  modern  discovery;  it  has  no  new  God,  no  new  system 
of  faith;  it  has  not  leveled  Sinai,  nor  robbed  the  divine  law  of  its 
sublime  and  majestic  holiness:  it  has  simply  brought  Calvary  to  the 
front;  it  has  made  the  divine  justice  the  background  on  which  faith 
has  painted  the  glory  of  redeeming  love;  it  has  substituted  as  glad 
tidings  the  heart  of  the  Christ  for  the  thunders  of  the  law,  flooding 
the  creed  with  the  sunlight  of  redemption.  So  that  the  modern 
sermon  is  an  invitation  instead  of  a  threatening;  it  is  the  echo  of  the 
"  come  "  of  Jesus  the  Master ;  and  you  have  only  to  study  the 
gospels  and  the  epistles  of  the  New  Testament  to  see,  that,  in  this 
particular,  the  theology  of  to-day  is  more  evangelical  than  that 
which  prevailed  in  some  centuries, — not  that  the  latter  was  unscrip- 
tural,  but  simply  that  it  was  not  the  gospel,  which  is  glad  tidings,  not 
wrath  and  fear.  And,  as  the  warm  rays  of  the  summer's  sun  cause  the 
seeds  in  the  cold  earth  to  burst  their  wrappings,  and  the  plant  to 
actually  leap  into  verdure  and  blossoms  and  fruit,  so  the  preaching  of 
the  fathomless  and  eternal  and  comforting  love  of  God  is  the  sun- 
shine of  this  world,  breaking  up  the  hard  soil,  and  wooing  the 
thoughts  and  affections  out  of  the  wrappings  of  selfishness,  and  up 
into  the  beauty  and  richness  of  sanctified,  holy  lives. 

The  modern  sermon  formulates  a  very  simple  creed  for  the 
anchorage  of  faith,  for  the  manual  of  daily  living.  There  was  a 
time  when  the  church  sought  to  comprehend  the  God  side  of  re- 
demption as  well  as  the  human  side,  and  constructed  its  creed  with 
doctrines,  all  of  them  perhaps  true,  but  doctrines  which  were  so  full 
of  infiniteness  that  to  be  able  sincerely  to  confess  an  understand- 
ing of  them,  was  to  affirm  a  comprehension  of  God  Himself.  These 
doctrines  were  placed  by  the  church  at  the  portal  of  its  visible 
fellowship,  thus  making  what  was  originally  the  visible  body  of 
Christ  to  be  a  theological  school,  into  which  those  only  could  enter 
who  were  already  prepared  for  graduation  to  glory.  The  sermon  of 
that  day  was  largely  a  doctrinal  disquisition,  to  the  hearers  dry 
because  its  profound  analyses  did  not  so  much  as  touch  the  outer 
fringe  of  daily  experience  ;  and  men  and  women  listened  with  no 
personal  interest,  except  such  as  leads  one  to  study  the  stars  through 
the  telescope,  only  in  this  case  the  telescopic  glass  was  necessarily 


TO   PROF.    DAVID   SWING.  29 

blurred,  and  the  children  went  quietly  to  sleep,  unable  to  catch  a 
word  whose  meaning  their  young  minds  could  grasp.  Some  of  us 
can  remember  those  sermons  in  our  childhood  days,  when  topics 
such  as  predestination,  election  and  the  definition  of  the  Trinity 
were  the  favorite  pulpit  themes,  and  when  the  minister  seemed  to  us 
so  grandly  far  away  from  all  the  facts  of  common  life,  that  we  felt 
very  much  like  the  little  girl  who,  when  the  clergyman  called  on  her 
mother,  hid  behind  the  sofa,  emerging  only  when  he  had  gone  out 
of  the  door,  with  this  wondering  question  of  awe  on  her  lips: 
"  Mamma,  was  that  God  ? " 

Now,  I  am  not  saying,  this  evening,  that  these  incomprehensible 
doctrines  were  not  all  true,  but  only  this,  that  they  pertained  to  the 
God  side  of  redemption  ;  that  they  were  beyond  human  grasp  ;  that, 
with  our  limited,  because  finite,  vision,  they  could  not  be  harmonized 
with  the  opposite  truths  of  human  action,  and  the  sad  result  was 
unhealthy  speculation,  unnecessary  and  harmful  skepticism,  and  the 
shutting  out  from  the  inestimable  privileges  of  the  Christian  church 
of  a  vast  number  who  did  not  deny,  but  could  not  assent  to,  truths 
which  they  could  not  understand.  The  modern  sermon  emphasizes  the 
human  side  of  doctrinal  truth.  It  leaves  with  God  those  facts  con- 
cerning His  being  and  eternal  purposes,  which  are  too  vast  to  be 
comprehended,  and  deals  with  such  clearly  perceived  facts  as  the 
love  of  the  Father,  the  atoning  work  of  the  Son,  the  gospel  invi- 
tation to  the  whole  world,  grace  provided  for  all,  and  man's  ability 
to  accept  the  invitation  and  to  walk  with  God,  and  to  grow  in  spir- 
itual stature  to  be  like  God.  It  brings  the  blessed  helps  of  the 
Bible  provision  down  to  man's  practical  daily  life  ;  seeks  to  purify 
his  heart,  to  ennoble  his  principles,  to  make  him  honest  in  trade, 
loving  in  his  home,  benevolent  to  the  needy;  and,  taking  the  Master's 
own  graphic  language  as  its  basis,  it  throws  open  the  Gate  that  is 
one  resplendent  pearl,  to  all  those,  who,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  com- 
fort the  sick,  feed  the  hungry,  clothe  the  naked,  visit  the  prisoner, 
and  give  the  cup  of  cold  water  to  parched  lips.  Thus  the  sermon 
is  an  inspiration  to  purer,  manlier,  Godlike  living;  and  the  world,  I 
believe,  is  made  brighter  and  holier  by  each  Sabbath's  communion. 

Spurgeon  tells  of  a  fountain  in  the  town  of  Goslar,  in  the  Hartz 


30  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

Mountains,  which  was  so  peculiarly  constructed  that  the  jets  and  the 
basin  into  which  the  water  fell  were  above  the  reach  of  any  man  of 
ordinary  stature,  and  yet  the  object  of  the  fountain  was  to  supply 
the  people  of  the  town  with  water.  In  order  to  gain  it,  however, 
every  person  brought  a  spout  or  trough  with  him,  long  enough  to 
reach  to  the  top  of  the  fountain,  and  thus  he  brought  the  water  down 
into  his  pitcher.  If  he  came  without  a  trough,  he  must  go  away 
thirsty;  and  yet,  a  little  expenditure  of  money  to  secure  a  mason's  work 
with  a  chisel,  would  have  brought  the  crystal  stream  within  the  reach 
of  all.  It  was  an  absurd  construction  of  a  fountain  for  the  people, 
and  any  sermon  whose  style  is  so  lofty,  and  its  truths  so  profound, 
that  the  common  people  cannot  drink  the  waters  of  life  without 
a  dictionary,  is  an  absurd  discourse,  and  souls  will  perish  from  thirst 
on  such  preaching. 

The  modern  sermon  culls  from  every  field  of  literature,  as  well  as 
from  the  Bible,  its  materials  with  which  to  add  to  the  beauty  and 
power  of  the  truth,  as  our  Lord  thought  it  not  beneath  His  dignity 
to  teach  the  sublimest  truths  to  His  disciples,  from  the  lily  of  the 
field  and  the  radiant  plumage  of  the  birds.  The  great  truths  of  the 
Bible,  before  their  construction  into  a  sermon,  are  like  the  rich, 
metallic  ores  when  they  are  in  the  rocky  mine;  and  in  this  state  they 
are  totally  unlike  the  equestrian  statue  which  the  artist  builds  up 
from  that  metallic  ore  by  his  genius.  The  work  of  the  preacher  is 
construction  work,  bringing  divine  truths  into  new  combinations, 
and  organizing  them  into  a  complete  unity,  which  shall  teach  some 
grand  lesson,  by  the  inspiration  of  which  there  shall  be  formed  heroic 
soul  statues.  Into  this  construction,  the  preacher  pours  his  whole 
being,  imagination  brings  in  her  vivid  images  of  beauty,  not  for  the 
purpose  of  delighting  an  audience,  but  as  the  clothing  of  the  truth; 
the  thought  searches  through  realms  of  history,  poetry,  art,  science, 
for  gems  with  which  to  make  the  diadem  of  God's  love  more 
radiant,  and  care  is  given  even  to  the  elegance  of  style,  and  to  per- 
spicuity, in  order  that  there  may  be  appropriate  companionship  for 
conceptions  the  grandest,  and  truths  the  profoundest,  that  mortal 
mind  can  consider.  Poverty  of  ideas  or  plainness  of  style  are  no 
help,  but  an  injury,  to  the  truth;   for,  as  in  nature,  you  find  the 


TO   PROF.    DAVID   SWING.  31 

beautiful  and  useful  combined,  as  the  blossoms  of  the  apple  tree  do 
not  repress,  but  serve  to  bring  out,  the  golden  fruit,  so  the  sermon  is 
made  more  rich  and  powerful  by  those  thoughts  that  blossom  into 
beauty;  and  he  is  unfit  to  preach  who  seeks  to  deform  himself  by 
trying  to  get  into  the  mould  of  another  mind,  so  as  to  preach  like 
this  or  that  celebrated  sermonizer.  God  has  made  every  soul 
peculiar  from  every  other;  and  He  meant  that  each  one  should  pour 
his  soul  into  his  preaching,  his  thought,  his  imagination,  his  style, 
his  impassioned  feeling;  and  such  a  preacher  cannot  fail  to  make 
himself  a  power  in  the  community,  and  it  must  be  a  power  for  good, 
so  long  as  he  thinks  and  writes  in  the  light  streaming  from  the  face 
of  Christ,  though  his  way  of  putting  the  truth  into  words  may  differ 
from  the  stereotyped  form.  We  bring  garlands  of  flowers  at  Christ- 
mas and  Easter  into  our  temples  of  prayer  and  our  homes,  and  we 
weave  the  Name  that  is  above  every  name,  into  the  fragrant  beauty  of 
nature's  sweetest  offering.  So  the  modern  sermon  loses  nothing, 
but  gains  immeasurably,  when  it  weaves  the  name  and  the  love  of 
Christ  with  the  richest  flowers  of  thought  and  fancy;  when,  with 
every  faculty  of  a  disciplined  and  furnished  intellect,  it  holds  up  the 
gospel  with  loving  hands. 

The  modern  sermon  is  the  terror  of  evil-doers,  because  it  is  the 
fearless  enemy  of  iniquity,  and  its  words  of  condemnation  give  no 
uncertain  sound.  When  the  sermon  is  sensational,  through  gro- 
tesque topics  to  awaken  curiosity,  or  vulgarity  or  slang  to  attract 
religious  tramps,  then  the  pulpit  is  degraded,  and  religion,  as  thus 
represented,  becomes  an  object  of  contempt  to  the  world.  But, 
when  the  sermon  goes  to  the  other  extreme,  and  is  an  aimless,  life- 
less, monotonous  thing,  striking  at  nothing,  touching  every  question 
with  gloved  fingers,  then  the  pulpit  is  the  object  of  ridicule ;  it  is  a 
citadel  with  no  watchman  on  the  walls,  and  the  billows  of  vice  and 
crime  roll  on  unchecked  and  undisturbed,  and  wicked  men  pursue 
their  iniquitous  designs  with  boldness.  The  sermon  should  have  no 
affiliation  with  any  political  party  ;  for,  when  the  preacher  stands  in 
the  pulpit,  he  stands  above  all  party  divisions,  as  God's  ambassador, 
and  as  a  member  of  the  glorious  party  of  which  Christ  is  the  head. 
But  this  party  is  the  foe  of  sin  everywhere,  and  in  every  form  ;  its 


32  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

torch  of  salvation  not  only  lights  up  the  way  to  Paradise,  but 
reveals  by  its  radiant  purity,  the  corruption  and  evil  that  are  in  the 
world,  and  fearlessly  rebukes,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  for  the 
rescue  and  upbuilding  of  the  souls  of  men.  Such  preaching  will 
arouse  opposition.  You  cannot  empty  a  nest  of  vipers  without  a  good 
deal  of  hissing  and  striking  at  you ;  but  that  is  the  very  best  sign. 
It  shows  that  the  sermon  hit  somebody,  as  a  Scotch  minister  once 
said  to  one  who  was  afraid  of  agitation  :  "Agitation  !  Why,  what 
good  in  the  world  was  ever  done  without  agitation  ?  We  cannot 
make  butter  even  without  it."  You  remember  the  reply  which  a 
minister  gave  to  one  who  came  to  him,  complaining  of  a  remark  in 
the  sermon  of  the  day  before,  "  Did  you  know,  sir,  that  you  hurt  my 
feelings  yesterday  ?  "  "  Oh  !  "  answered  the  fearless  preacher,  "  I  am 
very  sorry  that  you  took  that.  I  meant  that  for  the  devil,  and  you 
stepped  in  and  took  it  yourself.  Don't  get  between  me  and  the  devil, 
brother,  and  you  won't  get  your  feelings  hurt." 

The  modern  sermon  will  paint  Christ  on  the  canvas,  and  the 
preacher  will  be  hidden  behind  Him  whose  love  is  to  rule,  at  last,  in 
every  heart;  and  such  Christ-preaching  with  Christ-living  will  triumph 
at  last  over  all  evil,  and  the  banquet  of  the  millennium  will  begin. 

In  this  grandest  of  all  missions,  the  overthrow  of  evil  and  the 
elevation  of  humanity  to  the  purity,  liberty  and  love  of  the  Christ- 
life,  all  the  preachers  of  Christianity  are  one  ;  and  in  the  joy  of  this 
mission  I  clasp  your  hand,  my  dear  brother,  Prof.  Swing,  in  a  hearty 
and  warm  friendship,  praying  for  you  the  richest  of  blessings,  a  long 
life,  an  increasing  power  for  righteousness,  and  a  heavy  crown  when 
you  pass  up  higher. 


CHURCH  INSURANCE. 


HON.    EUGENE    CARY. 


"The  true  church  is  not  external :  its  temple,  and  worship,  and  virtues  are  in  the  heart." — Swing. 

"  Church  Insurance."     I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  handle  this  theme, 
unless,  after  the  old  manner  of  the  divines,  I  divide  the  text  into  two 


TO  PROF.   DAVID   SWING.  33 

sections,  and  speak  of  the  church  now,  and  leave  the  insurance  part 
to  be  considered  "  on  the  evening  of  the  next  Lord's  day  at  early 
candle  light." 

I  suppose  it  is  assumed  there  is  a  heap  of  fun  and  humor  buried 
somewhere  under  this  theme.  Of  course,  there  has  been  a  good 
deal  of  the  grotesque  about  the  church,  the  same  as  there  has  been 
grotesque  law,  grotesque  philosophy,  and  grotesque  physic.  But,  in 
my  present  mood,  I  am  not  the  one  to  develop  it  here,  or  to  speak 
in  any  light  and  merely  humorous  vein  about  an  institution  which,  if 
not  dear  to  all  of  us,  has  been  dear  to  many  who  were  dear  to  us, 
and  that  has  filled  so  large  and  solemn  place  in  the  hearts  and  lives 
of  men,  and  in  the  progress  and  destiny  of  the  world. 

When  Gen.  Grant  was  a  candidate  the  first  time  for  the 
presidency,  one  of  the  conundrums  of  the  canvass,  referring  to  an 
expression  in  his  letter  of  acceptance,  was:  "Why  is  Gen.  Grant 
not  like  an  insurance  company?"  Answer:  "Because  he  has  no 
policy." 

If  I  must  keep  somewhere  near  to  the  language  of  our  sentiment, 
I  will  have  to  say,  that,  if  the  church  be  like  insurance,  or  is  to  be 
likened  to  an  insurance  company,  it  must  be  because  it  has,  and 
has  had,  a  policy. 

The  church  has  indeed  had  a  policy  which,  though  perturbed  at 
times,  in  its  grand  reach  and  purpose,  has  always  been  constant, 
broad,  strong,  upward  and  helpful.  It  has  been  with  the  march  of 
civilization,  making  it  humane;  it  has  been  with  the  progress 
of  society,  lifting  it  upward;  it  has  been  behind  the  governments 
of  the  world,  seeking  to  make  them  just;  it  is  the  only  institution 
whose  ambition  and  policy  has  ever  compassed  another  world,  and 
sought  to  lift  men  to  a  destiny  too  large  for  time. 

Looking  back  now  we  see  much  in  it  that  we  think  was  weak  ; 
much  that  we  feel  was  false.  We  see  how  much  waste  there  was  of 
time,  strength  and  feeling  on  senseless  controversy  about  idle  defi- 
nitions, on  worthless  abstractions  and  heartless  creeds.  But  we  can 
also  see  that  these  defects  and  errors  were  but  the  incidents  and 
weakness  of  the  times,  which  did  not  materially  affect  the  flow  and 
direction  of  the  mighty  current ;    were  but  the  colorings  from  the 


34  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

banks  through  which  the  great  stream  ran,  and  from  which  it  is  now 
emerging  with  waters  sweet  and  clear. 

While  there  were  alchemists  and  visionaries  among  scholars 
and  philosophers  outside  the  church,  it  would  be  strange  if  they  did 
not  exist  within  it ;  and  if,  while  those  without  were  seeking  the 
elixir  of  life  or  searching  for  the  fountain  of  perpetual  youth,  those 
within  did  not  seek  to  weigh  the  divine  essence,  or  measure  and  set 
with  metes  and  bounds  the  divine  will  and  purpose.  But  these  were 
but  the  results  of  contemporary  human  contact  and  influence,  to 
which  governments  and  all  institutions  were  alike  subject. 

The  student  of  law  may  find  it  written  down  in  the  books  of  his 
profession,  as  the  law  of  the  British  realm,  certainly  as  late  as  when 
the  doctrine  of  reprobation  was  exactly  defined,  that  a  husband  may 
legally  chastise  his  wife,  if  the  stick  he  use  be  no  thicker  than  his 
thumb.  I  think  this  law  has  never  been  formally  repealed,  and  that 
this  statement  of  the  law  remains  true  at  the  present  day.  Still,  not- 
withstanding the  law,  the  stick  has  dropped  from  the  husband's 
hand,  and  the  law  of  force  and  blows  has  given  way  to  the  rule  of 
religion  and  love.  So,  too,  while  the  offensive  definitions  and 
formulas  remain  imbedded  in  the  creeds  of  the  church,  into  which 
they  were  frozen  in  a  vindictive  and  speculative  age,  somehow  or 
other  they  have  dropped  out  of  the  life  and  policy  of  the  church, 
and  out  of  the  sermons  of  the  clergy,  and  are  heard  no  more  than 
the  husband's  stick  in  the  execution  of  the  kindred  barbarism.  Both 
are  a  dead  letter,  useful  only  as  marks  from  which  to  note  the  prog- 
ress of  humanity  and  religion.  Neither  has  place  any  longer  in 
the  life  or  policy  of  state  or  church. 

It  is  said  that  even  the  sun  is  not  without  spots  on  his  face  and 
record;  yet  he  has  always  been  a  glorious  king  of  day,  and  his 
presence  has  been  light  and  warmth  and  life. 

When  Col.  Ingersoll  shall  have  destroyed  the  church  because  of 
the  blots  on  its  record,  and  when  he  shall  have  destroyed  the  law,  as 
he  logically  must,  because  of  the  blemishes  on  its  record,  let  us  hope 
that  he  will  spare  us  the  sun,  despite  his  spots,  because,  with 
religious  and  legal  restraints  all  removed,  I  fear  we  should  not  be 
quite  safe  in  the  dark. 


TO  PROF.   DAVID   SWING.  35 

The  world  having  become  practical  in  all  its  thoughts,  methods  and 
strivings,  see  how  the  life  and  policy  of  the  church  are  becoming 
practical  also.  Having  found  that  the  future  can  always  take  care 
of  itself,  it  has  now  turned  to  looking  after  the  present,  which  always 
needs  help.  Having  found,  with  Job,  that  no  one  can  "by  search- 
ing find  out  God,"  it  has  turned  to  a  kindly  study  and  care  of  His 
image.  Having  learned  anew  the  lesson  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  that  the  allotments  in  the  future  are  to  be  according  to  the 
benefactions  rendered  in  the  present,  it  finds  the  field  of  duty  and 
religion  is  where  humanity  dwells  in  sorrow  and  rags, — where  the 
hungry,  the  thirsty  and  the  stranger  are ;  where  the  naked  are  to 
be  clothed,  and  where  the  sick  and  the  prisoner  languish  for  visi- 
tation and  succor.  Having  learned  that  "God  hath  made  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth," 
it  has  come  at  last  to  recognize  a  common  brotherhood  of  man,  and 
to  at  least  venture  to  hope  for  all  a  common  glorious  destiny. 

It  is  not  on  the  bare,  white  mountain  top,  kissed  first,  last  and 
oftenest  by  the  sun,  where  his  generous  warmth  rests  and  lingers, 
but  down  in  the  shadows  of  the  valley  :  here  the  fields  put  on  their 
living  green,  the  birds  sing,  the  flowers  bloom,  the  fruits  ripen,  the 
husbandman  garners  his  harvest,  and  industry  finds  opportunity  and 
reward. 

And  so  the  practical  church  of  our  day,  leaving  the  bare  though 
glistening  heights  of  cold  abstraction,  is  found  warm,  active  and  use- 
ful down  among  the  activities,  needs,  temptations  and  trials  of 
humanity.  Looking  up  for  light,  it  looks  around  for  opportunity. 
Here  it  may  sow  the  seeds  of  love  and  kindness  and  charity,  sure  of 
a  rich  harvest  of  blessing. 


36  RECEPTION  AND   DINNER 


THE  CHURCH  AND  ART. 


BY  REV.  JOHN  H.  BARROWS,  D.  D. 


"  Literature  is  that  form  of  thought  which  offends  no  mind.     It  is  thought  and  beauty." — Swing. 

For  twenty  eventful  years  our  guest  has  been  a  high  priest  of 
the  beautiful,  an  influential  preacher  of  the  value  of  higher  things 
in  a  community  which  is  supposed  to  appreciate  the  art  of  wrestling, 
and  the  art  of  slaughtering  swine,  and  the  art  of  "  fixing  "  election 
returns,  far  more  than  Lessing's  Laocoon  and  the  "  Seven  Lamps  of 
Architecture."  In  the  apprenticeship  of  our  city,  he  has  held  before 
us  the  value  of  the  ideal  good;  and,  as  Mrs.  Browning  says,  "It 
takes  the  ideal  to  blow  a  hand's  breadth  off  the  dust  of  the  actual." 
He  has  had  the  joy  of  seeing  among  us  vast  changes  for  the  bet- 
ter, both  aesthetic  and  ecclesiastical.  Only  a  wicked  St.  Louis 
newspaper  would  now  dare  to  assert  that  it  was  a  Chicago  lady 
who  came  back  from  Rome  and  told  of  her  rapture  in  seeing 
the  Apollo  Belladonna  and  the  Dying  Gladiolus  !  As  Emerson 
labored  to  correct  the  faults  of  "this  great,  intelligent,  sensual 
and  avaricious  America,"  so  our  friend  has  aimed  to  mend  the  man- 
ners of  "  this  great,  intelligent,  sensual  and  avaricious  Chicago." 
Lowell  says,  that,  in  his  own  life,  Poor  Richard  has  been  slowly 
"  elbowing  Plato  out ; "  but  I  believe,  that,  in  the  life  of  our 
city,  Plato  has  been  cordially  invited  to  come  in  and  teach  us 
that  the  beautiful  is  as  really  an  expression  of  the  Divine  mind  as 
the  true  and  the  good,  and  that,  as  Ruskin  has  taught  us,  the 
highest  form  of  the  beautiful  cannot  be  appreciated  apart  from 
some  degree  of  moral  sensibility. 

I  know  that  the  church  has  nothing  to  do  with  art  directly,  and 
yet  it  is  unquestionable  that  religion  has  given  to  art  its  greatest 
themes  and  noblest  inspirations.  We  all  know  that  music,  the  most 
universal  of  the  arts,  and  next  to  poetry  the  highest  of  all, — music,  in 
which  Richter  found  something  holy,  has  been  the  sweet-voiced 
attendant  of  the  Divine  King,  who  was  cradled  among  angelic  sym- 
phonies, and  who  has  marched  down  the  centuries  amid  cathedrals 


TO  PROF.    DAVID   SWING.  37 

builded  to  His  glory,  and  pictures  on  which  genius  and  devotion  have 
toiled  to  reveal  the  face  of  the  Altogether  Lovely.  Puritan  Christian- 
ity has  been  the  enemy  of  art  whenever  art  was  the  friend  of  im- 
purity and  superstition  ;  but  out  of  Puritanism  sprang  the  two 
greatest  works  of  literary  art  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
"  Paradise  Lost "  of  Milton  and  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  of  Bun- 
yan.  George  Eliot,  the  greatest  prose  artist  of  our  generation, 
with  all  her  vagaries  of  thought  and  life,  found  the  basis  of  her 
literary  inspiration,  not  in  the  theory  of  the  satanic  school  of  Wilde 
and  Swinburne,  that  any  element  of  morals  is  "  an  evidence  of 
incompleteness  of  vision  in  literary  and  artistic  matters,"  but  rather 
in  a  deep  desire  to  join  "the  choir  invisible "  of  those  selecter  souls 
"  whose  music  is  the  gladness  of  the  world."  And  when  we  rise  to 
perhaps  the  supreme  literary  artist  of  all  time,  the  author  of  the 
"  Divine  Comedy,"  that  "  mediaeval  miracle  of  song,"  which  Canon 
Farrar  commended  to  us  as  a  re-enforcement  to  our  weakened  moral 
fibre,  we  find  it  to  have  been  the  work  of  one  who  made  God  and 
sorrow  his  daily  companions. 

True  art,  whether  it  seeks  expression  in  colors  or  tones,  in  forms 
or  words,  aims  to  penetrate  to  the  soul  of  things  ;  and  the  soul  of 
things  is  the  Supernatural.  "  Nature,"  says  Emerson,  "  is  too  thin  a 
veil  :  God  is  all  the  while  breaking  through."  "  I'd  rather  be  a 
pagan  suckled  at  a  creed  outworn  "  than  look  on  the  outer  world 
with  agnostic  eyes.  The  artist  who  does  not  see  Nature  as  translu- 
cent with  the  light  of  invisible  spheres,  is  like  the  Israelite  who 
reads  Moses  with  a  veil  over  his  soul.  The  transfiguration  of  art  is 
the  radiance  which,  as  in  Correggio's  picture  of  the  "  Infancy,"  comes 
from  the  face  of  Him  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  and  who 
traverses  the  world  like  the  child  in  Guido's  "  Morning,"  holding  in 
his  hand  the  torch  which  is — 

"  The  fountain  light  of  all  our  day, 
And  the  master-light  of  all  our  seeing." 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  has  expressed  the  hope  that  America 
may  yet  produce  a  literature  as  original  as  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
the  Mississippi  river.  That  day  may  be  far  distant.  It  may  be 
a  remote  epoch  when  American  art  shall  have  distinctive  form.    But, 


38  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

if  that  form  is  to  be  notable  and  worthy,  it  will  spring,  as  all  that  is 
greatest  has  done,  from  the  moral  and  religious  sentiment.  It  will 
have  in  it  something  of  that  beauty  of  holiness  which  shines  from 
the  verse  of  Milton  and  the  canvas  of  Fra  Angelico  as  well  as  from 
the  pages  of  David  and  Isaiah.  "  Contrive,"  said  the  great  Leonardo 
da  Vinci  to  his  pupils,  "  that  your  figures  receive  a  broad  light  from 
above."  It  was  the  habit  of  the  Roman  maidens  who  had  been 
promised  in  marriage,  to  be  seen  first  by  their  lovers  in  the  rotunda 
of  the  Pantheon,  where,  as  you  remember,  the  only  light  descends 
from  the  single  sublime  aperture  in  the  dome.  So  let  the  light  which 
falls  on  our  civilization  come  from  the  uplifted  cross  of  Christ,  and 
the  face  of  America  shall  be  fair  to  look  on,  and  we  shall  be  skilled 
in  the  best  of  all  arts,  that  of  building  up  men  in  the  knowledge  and 
practice  of  whatsoever  things  are  pure  and  true  and  lovely  and  of 
good  report. 

Longfellow  sang  regretfully  of  the  days  of  Albert  Durer,  "  when 
art  was  still  religion;"  but  the  time  can  never  come  when  art  shall 
rightly  be  severed  from  the  Christian  ethics  which  are  the  basis  of 
all  permanent  blessing.  The  Parthenon  which  lifts  toward  the 
golden-tinted  sky  the  whiteness  of  its  untarnished  beauty,  must 
repose  on  the  immovable  Acropolis  of  truth  and  goodness.  And  the 
artist,  who  ought  to  be  of  stature  to  carry  "  the  torch  of  life  which 
has  been  passed  from  lifted  hand  to  hand  down  the  generations," 
must  not  become,  as  Dryden  for  a  while  descended  to  become,  as 
Lowell  has  said,  "a  link-boy  to  the  stews."  And  the  modern 
aesthete  who  prefers  form  and  finish  to  substance  and  thought,  and 
who,  forgetting  all  that  is  greatest  in  architecture  and  sculpture, 
painting  and  music  and  poetry,  asserts  that  ethics  and  aesthetics 
have  no  common  base,  scorning  the  teaching  of  Cousin,  that  the 
moral  idea  is  the  chief  element  in  the  beautiful,  and  the  teaching  of 
Schelling,  that  the  aesthetic  lies  in  character,  is  the  apostle  of  an  un- 
wholesome and  meretricious  art,  the  art  of  literary  fops  and  dudes, 
and  the  disciples  of  the  "  dirt  philosophy."  Such  earthy  and  unholy 
art,  which,  in  much  of  modern  French  painting,  delights  in  sensuality 
and  slaughter,  pandering  to  the  savage  and  salacious  in  man,  is 
the  poison  sucked  from  a  decaying  flower.    It  is  the  corrupter  of  the 


TO  PROF.    DAVID   SWING.  39 

soul,  which  is  the  one  priceless  thing  in  the  world,  and  it  leads  to 
lives  selfish,  sensual,  restless,  or,  to  say  it  in  one  word,  Parisian. 
Such  a  life  is  like  the  Dead  Sea,  into  which,  though  the  streams  pour  in 
floods,  it  is  made  no  sweeter  thereby,  but  stretches  out  an  acrid 
expanse,  above  which  hang  the  mists  of  discontent,  and  along  whose 
shores  the  driftwood  of  many  a  bitter  year  is  tossed.  But  the  truest 
art,  whether  we  find  it  in  Homer's  heroic  and  resounding  line,  in  the 
intricate  harmonies  of  Browning's  "Saul,"  or  in  Wordsworth's  great 
meditative  "  Ode  to  Immortality;"  whether  we  feel  its  grandeur  in  the 
symphonies  of  Beethoven,  or  its  pensive  tenderness  in  the  landscapes 
of  Millet;  whether  we  are  touched  by  the  homely  scenes  of  David 
Wilkie  and  Thomas  Faed,  or  are  startled  by  the  magic  light  and 
shadow  of  Rembrandt, — the  truest  art,  which  lifts  us  to  the  "  joy  of 
elevated  thoughts,"  as,  in  imagination,  we  watch  the  hand  that  pen- 
ciled the  Dresden  "  Madonna,"  or  the  greater — 

' '  Hand  that  rounded  Peter's  dome, 
And  groined  the  aisles  of  Christian  Rome," — 

is  always  found  the  friend  and  promoter  of  truth  and  goodness,  of 
aspiration  and  faith.  It  is  like  the  Christ-life,  which  resembles,  not 
the  Dead  Sea,  but  the  sacred  Ganges,  coming  down  to  our  earth 
from  the  highest  heights,  feeding  the  roots  of  thirsty  grasses  along 
its  shores,  offering  a  tribute  to  the  majestic  palm-tree  and  the  blos- 
soming shrub  of  the  oleander,  giving  a  cup  of  water  to  pariah  and 
prince,  cooling  the  night  air  for  the  infant's  slumbers,  and,  under  the 
moonlight,  showing  a  face  of  beauty  to  the  lone  watchers  from  the 
walls  of  Delhi  and  the  minarets  of  Benares,  until,  made  doubly 
sacred  by  its  countless  benefactions,  it  rolls  through  a  hundred 
channels  into  the  Indian  Sea. 

Professor  Swing,  let  me  close  these  remarks  in  grateful  recog- 
nition of  your  eminent  services  to  the  higher  life  of  this  community, 
with  an  expression  of  the  kindly  feelings  of  that  group  of  your 
friends  which  I  represent.  The  venerated  Charles  Hodge,  of  Prince- 
ton, once  wrote:  "  Old  controversies  and  diversities  of  opinion  are 
passing  out  of  view;  I  dread  being  estranged  from  any  who  truly 
love  and  worship  our  common  Lord  and  Saviour."  Our  differences 
have  not  estranged  us,  and  you  will  allow  me  to  give  you   this 


40  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

benediction:  "May  the  light  of  the  True,  the  Fair  and  the  Good, 
ever  shine  along  your  brightening  pathway,  until,  returning  late  into 
Heaven,  you  shall  see  the  King  in  His  beauty." 


A   REMINISCENCE. 


1  Music  is  the  most  universal  art.     Put  a  king  in  disguise,  and  he  will  follow  a  brjss  band 
like  a  boy."— Swing. 

Though  long  the  poet's  pen  hath  lain  in  rust, 

His  verse  a  half-remembered  fantasy, 
Well  might  his  art  awaken  from  the  dust, 

To  pay  its  fleeting  tribute,  friend,  to  thee. 
No  need  to  ask  that  friends  of  early  days 

May  keep  the  place  thou  gav'st  them  in  thy  heart : 
Thou  saidst  to  me  the  single  word  ' '  always  " 

As  once  we  briefly  met,  as  soon  to  part. 
The  willing  world  will  give  thee  praise  and  fame, 

And  tell  thine  empire  over  smiles  and  tears: 
I  only  bring  thee  now,  in  friendship's  name, 

A  simple  story  from  the  by-gone  years. 


Once,  when  the  summer  was  a  full-blown  rose, 

And  God  came  near  to  nature  with  His  grace 

To  crown  with  beauty  every  living  thing, 

Two  friends,  grown  languid  in  the  city  air, 

Wearied  with  toil  and  of  the  din  of  trade, 

Sought  the  sweet  haunts  of  nature  for  repose. 

One  bore  a  name  that  even  then  was  great, 

Known  in  two  worlds,  the  other  was  his  friend. 

In  woodland  shades,  by  waters  sweet  and  clear, 

In  converse  they  beguiled  the  summer  hours; 

Their  themes,  the  landscape,  waters,  skies  and  flowers. 

Not  to  imprisoned  dwellers  in  the  town 

The  heavens  declare  God's  glory.     The  wide  sky 

Is  narrowed  to  the  channel  of  a  street 

Unfringed  by  wayside  flowers.     The  fleecy  clouds 

Are  seen  not,  nor  the  glowing,  golden  west : 

The  life  that  now  is  veils  the  light  on  high, 

And  men  doubt  God  who  never  see  His  sky. 


TO  PROF.    DAVID   SWING.  41 

The  friends  one  Sabbath  rambled  near  a  wood 

Crowning  a  hill,  where,  half  concealed,  there  stood — 

Rich  in  stained  glass  and  deftly  carven  stone 

(A  poet  builder's  realistic  dream) — 

A  church  (Nashotah  mission,  it  is  called) 

Embowered  in  shade;  and,  through  its  open  door 

Came  in  sweet  melody  a  sacred  hymn. 

The  place  was  holy  ground,  and,  drawing  near, 

They  sought  the  door-step  of  the  fane  for  rest. 

The  air  was  sweet  with  clover,  and  the  bees, 

Careless  of  Sabbath  in  their  search  for  spoil, 

Made  drowsy  music  for  the  listening  ear. 

Below  them  flashed  the  waters  of  a  lake  ; 

And  overhead  the  birds,  in  shady  trees, 

Joined  their  sweet  treble  to  the  song  of  praise; 

Then  came  the  litany,  with  its  response; 

But  the  great  preacher,  seated  at  the  door, 

Joined  not,  and  still  his  look  was  far  away 

Where  smiled  the  waters  of  the  little  lake, 

Until  his  brother  at  the  sacred  desk 

Had  read,  ' '  From  envy,  hatred,  and  malice, 

And  all  uncharitableness  ;  "  and  then, 

While  in  his  eyes  there  shone  a  tender  light, 

He  softly  whispered  the  responding  words, 

"  Good  Lord,  deliver  us."  'Twas  all  he  said. 

Since  that  sweet  morning  years  have  come  and  gone, 
And  the  great  preacher,  list'ning  from  his  height, 
Hears  happy  voices  calling,  "Lo  !  the  dawn  !  " 
And  wailing  voices  crying,  "  Lo  !  the  night !  " 
And  he  makes  answer  :  ' '  Not  in  written  creeds 
Exists  the  power  to  satisfy  our  needs; 
Man  striving,  falling,  yet^that  Friend  may  trust 
Who  knows  our  frame,  rememb'ring  we  are  dust. 
The  heart,  doubt-wearied  and  by  sin  enticed, 
Needs  not  opinion, — only  Jesus  Christ." 
And  thus,  of  all  the  sacred  litany, 
The  words  which  ask  that  love  may  guide  alway, 
Which  something  good  in  every  mortal  find, 
And  plead  for  gentle  judgment  of  mankind, 
Inspire  his  life.     He  still  the  theme  loves  best 
That  touched  thy  heart  that  Sabbath  morn,  dear  guest. 
Feb.  22,  1886.  Thomas  S.  Chard. 


42  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 


RESPONSE. 


PROF.    DAVID    SWING. 


When  Canon  Farrar  was  in  our  city  he  told  me  of  some  London 
lawyer  or  writer  to  whom  a  dinner  was  unexpectedly  given,  and, 
when  the  parlors  became  thronged  with  guests,  the  man,  awkward 
and  bashful,  whispered  to  the  Canon,  "  It  does  not  seem  possible 
that  all  this  disturbance  of  the  peace  is  made  over  me."  I  must 
repeat  that  form  of  argument, — and  must  wonder  if  there  is  some 
mistake  about  this  banquet,  and  if  I  have  not  a  "double"  somewhere 
who  ought  to  be  here. 

It  is  rather  late  for  informing  the  Committee  of  Arrangements; 
but  I  cannot  accept  of  this  whole  grand  gift  of  an  evening  from 
you,  whose  time  is  so  valuable;  cannot  accept  of  all  these  kind 
words  and  kind  deeds:  what  part  I  do  accept  I  take  without  any 
egotism,  but  with  a  full  consciousness  of  the  fact  that  this  is  an 
instance  in  which  it  is  at  least  as  blessed  to  give  as  to  receive. 

My  twenty  years  in  Chicago  have  taught  me  that  the  city  is  full 
of  generous  men  and  women,  and  that  such  an  hour  as  this,  along 
with  the  honor  it  brings  me,  brings  a  happiness  to  the  hundreds  here 
assembled.  Next  to  the  pleasure  of  hearing  good  words  is  the 
pleasure  of  saying  them.  I  see  around  me  citizens  who  have  done 
full  duty,  social,  political  and  moral,  for  a  score  of  years;  men  who 
have  helped  build  up  the  city,  and  who  have  brought  honor  to  its 
name.  I  see  members  of  the  learned  professions,  physicians,  law- 
yers, teachers,  whose  influence  has  always  been  upon  the  side  of  the 
public  welfare,  and,  knowing  you  all,  as  I  do,  I  must  ask  permission 
to  divide  this  banquet  into  many  parts,  and  apportion  it  out  to  the 
many  excellent  ones  in  this  room.  These  flowers  which  your  orators 
and  poets  have  brought  to  me  I  appreciate  and  admire;  but  I  must 
now  tear  the  bouquet  to  pieces,  and  fling  a  rose  to  each  of  you,  that 
we  may  be  like  the  Greeks,  who,  when  they  gave  a  banquet,  made 
each  one  wear  a  chaplet  of  leaves,  men  and  women  alike.     All  fore- 


TO  PROF.   DAVID   SWING.  43 

heads  were  one  in  those  hours  of  friendship.  To  respond  to  the 
sentiments  offered  this  evening  in  prose  and  poetry  is  impossible. 
The  variety  of  themes  treated,  the  wit  and  wisdom  of  the  remarks, 
and  the  merit  of  the  poems  read  turn  my  mind  wholly  away  from 
myself,  and  fill  me  with  admiration  of  a  city  which  can  give  banquets 
at  which  all  professions  and  callings  meet  in  perfect  harmony,  and 
where  the  viands  upon  the  table  are  no  more  delicate  or  tempting 
than  those  spread  out  by  the  mind  and  heart. 

Mr.  Froude,  the  English  historian,  passed  through  this  city  a  year 
ago,  and,  having  spent  a  couple  of  hours  in  a  carriage  or  railway 
station,  repeated  the  customary  conclusion  of  a  certain  kind  of 
Englishman,  that  Chicago  was  remarkable  for  its  pig-killing.  We 
wish  there  could  be  some  manner  by  which  the  information  could  be 
conveyed  to  such  foreigners,  that  the  grains  and  meats  shipped  by 
Chicago  have  no  more  to  do  with  her  moral  and  intellectual  standing 
than  the  beer  manufactured  in  London  has  to  do  with  her  students 
and  writers,  the  members  of  her  parliament,  her  pulpit,  and  of  the 
Temple  Bar.  England  has  $500,000,000  employed  in  the  manufacture 
of  beer.  She  produces  each  year  25,000,000  barrels.  Such  a  nation 
ought  to  be  swift  to  forgive  Chicago  for  shipping  certain  barrels  of 
pork,  and  the  traveling  Froudes  who  can  find  something  at  home 
besides  beer,  ought  to  be  able  to  find  something  in  Chicago 
besides  bacon. 

Our  city,  like  all  great  cities,  contains  two  lives  ;  its  business  life 
and  its  intellectual  life,  and  Chicago  will  soon  be  as  great  in  the 
latter  as  she  is  in  the  former.  Looking  and  listening  to-night,  I  can- 
not but  wish  that  it  will  soon  be  discovered  that  twenty  years  have 
passed  over  some  other  heads  than  mine,  and  that  you  will  assemble 
again  under  the  two  flags  of  friendship  and  philosophy,  feasting  and 
thought.  I  thank  you  deeply  for  the  honor  of  this  banquet.  To  me 
the  assemblage  is  one  of  peculiar  worth,  because,  being  outside  of 
the  denominations,  I  am  much  like  Selkirk  in  his  island,  and  have 
much  needed  this  fraternal  greeting  from  brethren  in  the  pulpit  and 
from  members  of  other  and  all  pursuits.  I  shall  more  than  ever 
feel  the  presence  of  that  brotherhood  which  has  this  night  been 
made  visible. 


44  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

It  is  a  wonderful  kindness  in  society,  when  it  finds  that  some  one 
of  its  co-laborers  is  getting  gray,  to  meet  together  and  rejoice  over 
him  and  with  him,  as  if  old  age  were  a  blessing  of  which  he  might 
not  be  fully  aware  without  the  help  of  your  speeches  and  poems  and 
flowers.  Happy  city  to  live  in  where  its  friendships  can,  by  a  banquet, 
convert  twenty  almost  lost  years  into  a  delightful  memory. 


TO  PROF.   DAVID   SWING.  45 


REGRETS. 


The  stage  does  not  often  congratulate  the  pulpit,  which  must 
make  the  following  dignified  and  scholarly  letter  from  Lawrence 
Barrett  all  the  more  acceptable  to  the  Professor : 

Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  New  York,  Feb.  15. 
Dear  Friend :  Let  me  intrude  upon  your  festival  to  wish  you 
joy,  but  chiefly  to  wish  the  religious  world  joy  that  you  have  lived 
so  long  to  make  your  influence  felt  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the 
other, — an  influence  which  has  kept  frank  minds  within  the  faith 
through  its  breadth  and  health,  which  has  comforted  the  doubting 
by  a  liberal  interpretation,  and  has  resisted  above  all  the  spread  of 
infidelity  by  the  clear  exposition  of  a  faith  which  knows  no  narrow- 
ness, no  bigotry.  In  the  name  of  the  arts  which  you  have  so  lov- 
ingly cherished  and  sustained,  I  wish  you  long  life  and  health  and 
many  imitators;  but  chiefly,  dear  Professor,  on  this  festival  occa- 
sion, I  express  for  your  future  health  and  happiness  the  deep  and 
hearty  prayer  of  your  faithful  friend, 

Lawrence  Barrett. 

Prof.  Swing's  Irish  friends  also  did  not  fail  to  remember  the  kind 
words  he  has  often  had  for  them,  as  the  following  note,  which  ac- 
companied a  floral  harp,  will  show : 

Prof.  David  Swing — Dear  Sir :  In  your  public  addresses  and 
on  private  occasions,  you  have  frequently  spoken  humane,  eloquent, 
and  generous  words  in  behalf  of  the  struggle  of  the  Irish  people  for 
social   and   political   advancement.     We  join,  therefore,  with   our 


46  RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 

fellow-citizens  of  other  races  and  denominations  in  congratulating 
you  upon  the  twentieth  anniversary  of  your  arrival  in  Chicago,  and 
we  sincerely  wish  you  many  years  of  health  and  happiness. 

T.  A.  Moran. 

Alexander  Sullivan. 

John  F.  Finerty. 

Rockford,  III.,  Feb.  19,  1886. 

Messrs.  N.  K.  Fairbank,  W.  S.  Henderson,  C.  B.  Holmes  and 
Gen.  Chas.  FitzSimons — Gentlemen :  Thanking  you  for  the  invita- 
tion to  attend  the  complimentary  dinner  to  Prof.  David  Swing,  we 
regret  that  we  shall  not  be  able  to  be  present. 

We  wish  to  express  our  love  for  Prof.  Swing,  and  appreciation  of 
the  grand  work  which  he  has  accomplished,  in  the  religious  and 
intellectual  upbuilding  of  Chicago,  and  the  world  at  large,  during 
these  twenty  years  of  active,  faithful  service,  which  this  gathering  is 
intended  to  commemorate. 

When  the  roll  of  honor  is  made  up,  of  the  thinkers  and  teachers 
who  have  been  most  instrumental  in  giving  to  the  world  the  gospel 
of  love  and  liberty,  which  to-day  fills  our  land,  the  name  of  Prof. 
Swing  will  appear  among  the  first  of  his  generation. 

We  feel  "that  to  have  known  *  *  *  one  man  who, 
through  the  rubs  and  chances  of  a  long  life,  has  carried  his  heart  in 
his  hand,  like  a  palm  branch,  waving  all  discords  into  peace,  helps 
our  faith  in  God,  in  ourselves,  and  in  each  other,  more  than  many 
sermons."     Such  a  man  is  Prof.  Swing. 

It  is  given  to  those  who  have  felt  the  comforting  power  of  his 
words  in  days  of  sorrow  and  affliction,  most  fully  to  know  and 
appreciate  his  work  and  life.  His  character  and  influence  are  the 
rich  possession  of  the  race,  and  will  add  an  inspiration  and  tender, 
loving  sympathy  to  the  lives  of  all  who  come  within  its  reach. 

Our  most  earnest  desire  and  prayer  is,  that  his  life  may  be  con- 
tinued to  a  ripe  old  age. 

Very  truly  your  friends, 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  A.  Talcott. 


TO   PROF.    DAVID   SWING.  47 

Racine,  Wis.,  Feb.  5,  1886. 

Dear  Sir :  As  one  who  listened  to  Prof.  Swing's  first  sermon  in 
Chicago  before  he  began  his  regular  work  there, — and  who  has  since 
been  so  great  a  debtor  to  him  through  the  reading  of  his  sermons, — 
with  only  at  great  intervals  having  the  privilege  of  listening  to  him, 
permit  me  to  express  my  gratification  that  the  proposition  for  a  tes- 
timonial has  taken  form. 

Thousands  upon  thousands  of  people  outside  of,  but  still  a  part 
of,  Chicago,  because  all  their  highways  lead  to  your  city, — will  sym- 
pathize in  your  acknowledgment  of  the  debt  which  the  entire  West 
is  under  to  your  great  preacher  of  the  real  gospel  of  the  Saviour  of 
the  world,  and  who  is  influencing  a  much  larger  audience  than 
could  be  contained  in  many  Central  Music  Halls  to  better  living, 
giving  them  broader  and  higher  views  of  life. 

Sincerely  yours,  Simeon  Whiteley. 

Hon.  A.  M.  Pence,  of  Committee. 


48 


RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 


THE   GUESTS. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  R.  McKay. 

H.  W.  Quan. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  L.  Fulton. 

Mrs.  L.  W.  Ferris. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  J.  Herrick. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edmund  Norton. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  H.  W.  Thomas. 

J.  H.  Thayer. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  W.  Thomson. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  David  Utter. 

Mrs.  Mary  Dye. 

Mrs.  Wirt  Dexter. 

Miss  Pierce,  Boston. 

Maj.  and  Mrs.  C.  A.  Dibble. 

Mr.  J.  O.  Smith. 

James  Rood. 

Ambrose  Risdon. 

E.  Batchelor. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Gilbert. 

Gen.  and  Mrs.  C.  FitzSimons. 

Edward  D.  Cooke. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  M.  Blair. 

Jewett  E.  Ricker. 

H.  G.  Selfridge. 

Mrs.  L.  F.  Selfridge. 

P.  D.  Skinner. 

Rev.  T.  E.  Green  and  lady. 

Mrs.  H.  A.  Johnson. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  J.  Harding. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  B.  Rayner. 

Miss  Quan. 

John  L.  Fyffe. 

Fred.  P.  Fisher. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  H.  Handy. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hiram  Tompkins. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  F.  Tompkins. 

Mrs.  Chas.  E.  Towne. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ira  Tomblin. 

Mr.  James  L.  Clark. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Augustus  N.  Eddy. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Asa  Dow. 

Dr.  R.  N.  Foster  and  Miss  Foster. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eugene  S.  Pike. 

Gen.  E.  R.  Wadsworth. 

A.  J.  Snell,  Jr. 

Mrs.  A.  J.  Snell. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  M.  Clark. 

T.  B.  Skinner,  Battle  Creek,  Mich. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  O.  J.  Stough. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  B.  Sherman. 

Mrs.  John  H.  Barrows. 

Mrs.  Hugh  T.  Birch. 

Mrs.  E.  M.  Bedell. 

M.  E.  Mead. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  A.  Carpenter. 

Miss  Carpenter. 

Mrs.  L.  K.  Waldron. 

Mrs.  C.  F.  Kendall,  Topeka,  Kan. 


TO  PROF.   DAVID   SWING. 


49 


Mrs.  A.  B.  Stiles. 

Bertha  L.  Howe. 

Geo.  N.  Wright. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dewitt  C.  Cregier. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  Hutchinson. 

C.  N.  Fullerton. 

James  O.  Hinkley. 

Mrs.  Jane  de  Mary. 

J.  O.  Cottrell. 

Austin  Bierbower. 

Jno.  H.  Hamline. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  B.  Bogue. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Franklin  Ames. 

Geo.  Howland. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  B.  Kerr. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  O.  Seymour. 

John  Crerar. 

Robert  L.  Rayner. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  G.  Sears. 

Mrs.  A.  J.  Stevens,  California. 

Mrs.  T.  J.  Worth. 

Arthur  J.  Caton. 

Mrs.  G.  O.  Chamberlin. 

Mrs.  H.  O.  Stone. 

P.  P.  Heywood. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  F.  Abbott. 

Geo.  A.  Wheeler. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  Van  Voorhis. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  R.  H.  McCormick. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  B.  Holmes. 

Miss  Allie  Barnett. 

Mrs.  A.  J.  Stone. 

J.  Coleman  Adams. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  I.  S.  Blackwelder. 

Mrs.  John  P.  Altgeld. 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  L.  High. 

J.  Stearns  Smith. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  O.  P.  Curran. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Geo.  D.  Broomell. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Erskine  M.  Phelps. 

E.  D.  Cooke. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  T.  Boal. 

Thos.  B.  Bryan. 

Miss  Florence  Long. 

Rev.  R.  Stuart,  Battle  Creek,  Mich. 

Miss  Mamie  Leighton. 

Miss  Ada  E.  Springer. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  B.  Leake. 

Flora  Wilson. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.  F.  Kenly. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  M.  Bogue. 

Miss  Evelyn  Matz. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  Ayer. 

Catharine  M.  Bogue. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  H.  Chesebrough. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  W.  Cook. 

Mrs.  C.  P.  James. 

Mrs.  G.  H.  Stafford,  Washington, 

D.  C. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Ham. 
Miss  F.  Sill,  La  Crosse,  Wis. 
Mrs.  John  Hamline. 
Miss  Helen  Swing. 
R.  E.  McAlister,  New  Orleans. 
Huntington  W.  Jackson. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.  L.  Shorey. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  C.  Hayt. 
John  Wentworth. 
Chas.  Knox. 
Mrs.  Emma  Milbury. 
Mrs.  P.  G.  Noel,  Topeka,  Kansas. 


50 


RECEPTION  AND  DINNER 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wm.  P.  Nixon. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  L.  Norton. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  L.  L.  Coburn. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  L.  Chetlain. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  L.  D.  Webster. 

J.  H.  Brooke  and  Wife. 

Mrs.  Edwin  Brainerd. 

N.  K.  Fairbank. 

Chas.  B.  Hills. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  A.  Dibble. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  W.  J.  Hawkes. 

Mrs.  M.  N.  Holland. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  M.  Durand. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ira  W.  Allen. 

F.  P.  Potter. 

Mrs.  Clinton  Locke. 

F.  W.  Callender. 
Julius  Rosenthal. 
Dr.  W.  J.  Home. 
Moses  J.  Wentworth. 
Mrs.  H.  W.  Raymond. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Truman  Penfield. 

Mrs.  Amanda  S.  Cook. 

Azel  F.  Hatch. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  D.  Babbitt. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  O.  F.  Fuller. 

Miss  Minnie  E.  Marble. 

Walter  W.  Mead. 

Miss  Fanny  C.  Wright. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Kirkland. 

Wm.  Ruger. 

Louis  M.  Greeley. 

G.  A.  Springer. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  W.  Kimball. 
Robt.  B.  Gregory. 
Miss  Maggie  Robinson. 


Miss  E.  Nichols. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  L.  Howe. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  T.  White. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Josiah  Stiles. 

Mrs.  A.  C.  Easton. 

Mrs.  H.  D.  Cable. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  O.  Carpenter. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  S.  M.  Dunning. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Homer  M.  Thomas. 

Miss  Mary  L.  Hammill. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  W.  Blatchford. 

Miss  Amy  Blatchford. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Abbott  E.  Kittredge. 

Miss  Jennie  Barlow. 

Prof.  H.  M.  Dickson  and  Wife. 

H.  H.  Windsor. 

Miss  Nellie  A.  Fuller. 

Senora  Peixada. 

J.  B.  Klein. 

Wm.  Bross. 

Will.  H.  Rose. 

Miss  Allie  Barns. 

R.  W.  Lynch. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Willis  F.  Johnson. 

Miss  Minnie  Greer. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  N.  H.  Warren. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.  C.  Leach. 

L.  W.  Stone. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilbur  S.  Henderson. 

M.  R.  Stow. 

John  G.  Shortall. 

S.  S.  Greeley,  Jr. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  P.  Stone. 

Wm.  G.  Hibbard. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  B.  Kirtland. 

Judge  and  Mrs.  Sidney  Smith. 


TO  PROF.    DAVID   SWING. 


51 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  S.  Chard. 

Miss  Waters. 

Miss  Rogers. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Plowdon  Stevens. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.  S.  Mead. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  E.  Affeld. 

J.  M.  Schofield. 

Isaac  Emens  Adams. 

Edgar  Madden. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  O.  M.  Butler. 

Col.  Farlin  Q.  Ball. 

Wm.  McGregor. 

Wm.  G.  McGregor. 

A.  M.  Pence, 

Louis  Shissler. 

Mrs.  E.  S.  Miller. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  L.  B.  Mantonya. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  S.  Monroe. 

Mrs.  L.  M.  Johnson. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  M.  Brewer. 

J.  L.  Windsor. 

Harry  Monst. 

Mrs.  Addison  Phieey. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  D.  C.  Bradley. 

Mrs.  E.  Efner. 

J.  K.  Edsall. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  O.  W.  Potter. 

L.  G.  Hallberg. 

A.  A.  Sprague. 

Lewis  J.  Block. 

Mrs.  W.  S.  Hinkley. 

Miss  Minnie  Edwards. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  S.  J.  MacPherson 

Robt.  Greer. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  B.  Nellegar. 


Washington  Porter. 

Hon.  J.  G.  Rogers. 

Nathaniel  C.  Sears. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  J.  Moore. 

Geo.  M.  How. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eugene  Cary. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  W.  Sherman. 

Mr.  L.  K.  Waldron. 

Charles  B.  demons. 

Mrs.  J.  R.  Wilson. 

Geo.  L.  Dunlap. 

Miss  May  E.  McGregor. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  F.  Stevenson. 

Chas  R.  Holmes. 

John  R.  Miller. 

S.  M.  Jones. 

A.  J.  Stone. 

A.  D.  Wentz. 
W.  H.  Swett. 
Mrs.  B.  L.  Rider. 
D.  P.  Harris. 

Max  Behrens. 
Mrs.  Benny  Moore. 

Robert  R.  Manners. 

Mrs.  Easton,  New  York. 
Mrs.  W.  H.  Estey. 

Miss  Estey. 

John  D.  Gill. 

L.  L.  Whitney,  Boston. 

Charles  L.  Hutchinson. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  E.  Morse. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  L.  H.  Montgomery. 
,  Mrs.  Geo.  A.  Wheeler. 

D.  W.  Eldred  and  Wife. 

Judge  B.  D.  Magruder. 


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